Credit Suisse making a difference with Habitat in Romania

Ploiesti/Bratislava (June 13, 2012) – A team of 20 international employees from Credit Suisse came to Ploiesti, Romania, to work on a Habitat construction project. For three days, Credit Suisse volunteers will be building 3 houses that will then accommodate 12 families in need of improving their poor living conditions.

The housing situation in Ploesti, an industrial town north of the Romanian capital, is desperate. There are around 230 social housing units, mostly dormitory rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens. However, the demand for such living quarters is exceeding the supply. More than 240 families are on the municipal housing waiting list.

According to a study undertaken by a group of Romanian sociologists, there are entire districts in Ploesti in which families live in substandard conditions. Mostly in multiple apartment blocks which have been constructed before 1980 and never properly maintained. In addition to that, the area is suffering the effects of the economic crisis. Unemployment has doubled since last year, reaching almost 10 percent.

Habitat for Humanity’s project aims to assist socially disadvantaged families in getting simple and decent homes. The construction started in April 2012. Students from international schools and other corporate volunteers worked on the foundations and external walls. Credit Suisse employees will be assembling and installing structural wooden frames and interior elements for the houses.

Habitat programs are not a social handout program. All the beneficiaries are expected to take an active part in the construction of their new homes, as well as repay part of the house costs. All the funds will go into the fund out of which more homes can be constructed.

Since 2009, more than 2,000 Credit Suisse employees helped Habitat for Humanity build homes with low-income families providing over 23,000 hours of service.

Credit Suisse AG
Credit Suisse AG is one of the world’s leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as ‘Credit Suisse’). As an integrated bank, Credit Suisse offers clients its combined expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking and asset management. Credit Suisse provides advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high-net-worth private clients globally, as well as to retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is headquartered in Zurich and operates in over 50 countries worldwide. The group employs approximately 48,700 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse’s parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.

About Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that seeks to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by building and improving homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. An estimated 17,000 of these families are in Europe and Central Asia, where Habitat has been active since the mid-1990s. For more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.habitateurope.org.

Country: Romania