Citizens Financial : Serenity Place named Champion in Action in the Addiction Prevention & Treatment Services category

01/13/2017

Citizens Bank and New Hampshire Union Leader provide $35,000 funding, public relations and volunteer support

MANCHESTER, NH - Serenity Place has been named a 2017 Champion in Action® in the category of addiction prevention & treatment services. The award, announced by Citizens Bank and the New Hampshire Union Leader, includes $35,000 in unrestricted funding as well as promotional and volunteer support for the organization's outstanding work to help individuals become free of chemical addiction.

A non-profit, community-based behavioral health treatment agency that offers inpatient and outpatient substance use and addiction treatment services to individuals and families, Serenity Place's mission is to provide easily accessible opportunities for chemically dependent individuals to become free of chemicals and maintain that freedom.

The organization will use the Champions in Action award to increase case management services, family education services and outpatient treatment services.

Champions in Action is part of Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthen Communities, the bank's program designed to enhance quality of life and economic vitality in local communities. It provides support for nonprofit organizations to recognize their contributions to communities throughout New Hampshire.

'Serenity Place has assisted some of the most vulnerable people in New Hampshire for more than 30 years,' said Joe Carelli, president, Citizens Bank, New Hampshire. 'We are proud to embrace them as our next Champion in Action as they continue to expand and improve their services and outreach, which will support more individuals and families throughout New Hampshire.'

'Alongside Citizens Bank, the New Hampshire Union Leader is pleased to name Serenity Place as a Champion in Action,' said Brendan McQuaid, president of the New Hampshire Union Leader. 'We are proud to support their work assisting chemically dependent individuals, so they may recover as strong contributing members of our community.'

To date, the Champions in Action program has awarded 312 nonprofits more than $9.6 million in contributions and promotional support.

'We want to express our immense gratitude to Citizens Bank and the New Hampshire Union Leader for their generous support of our mission,' said Stephanie Bergeron, executive director of Serenity Place. 'Their Champions in Action recognition is a critical endorsement of our work and we thank them for their partnership, which is poised to benefit Greater New Hampshire families in numerous ways.'

As a Champion in Action, Serenity Place will receive:

• A $35,000 contribution in unrestricted funds from Citizens Bank;
• Media coverage from the New Hampshire Union Leader, including advertising and editorial support, over the course of six months;
• Volunteer support from Citizens and New Hampshire Union Leader colleagues;
• The opportunity for the organization's executive director to participate in a 'Executive-to-Executive' mentorship with a Citizens Bank executive;
• Public relations support;
• Promotional support highlighting the Champion in Action in Citizens Bank branches;
• Exposure on both Citizens Bank and New Hampshire Union Leader websites.

For more information about the Citizens Bank and the New Hampshire Union Leader Champions in Action program, visitwww.citizensbank.com/community/champions.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation's oldest and largest financial institutions, with $147 billion in assets as of September 30, 2016. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens helps its retail customers 'bank better' with mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200 ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also provides wealth management, mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services in select markets nationwide. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not-for-profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade finance. Citizens operates through its subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A. and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania as Citizens Bank, Citizens Commercial Banking and Citizens One. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at citizensbank.com.

About New Hampshire Union Leader

The New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News is the largest circulated and only statewide daily newspaper in the Granite State. We provide our readers with a package that contains local, state and worldwide news, items of important information, advertising, entertainment and opinion. And whenever news breaks, New Hampshire turns to UnionLeader.com.