Catholic Health Initiatives Makes $10 Million Investment in Calvert Foundation's Community Investment Notes

    BETHESDA, Md. and DENVER, March 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Catholic
 Health Initiatives, the nation's second-largest faith-based health care
 system, is making a $10 million investment in Calvert Social Investment
 Foundation (Calvert Foundation) Community Investment Notes. The major
 initiative underscores the health care system's long-term commitment to
 going beyond quality healthcare to promoting the health of communities.
 
 
 
     "Our focus has always been on providing the best health care available
 -- especially to underserved communities," said Kevin Lofton, president and
 chief executive officer of Catholic Health Initiatives. "We have been
 promoting the social good since our formation more than a decade ago by
 investing in organizations, such as the Calvert Foundation, that are
 committed to building healthy communities. This investment is especially
 appropriate for us because it is a major step toward helping to provide
 sustainable solutions to fighting poverty and improving the health of
 disadvantaged populations."
 
 
 
     Shari Berenbach, executive director of the Calvert Foundation, said, "I
 would like to congratulate Catholic Health Initiatives on using their
 leadership role to make a real difference not only in the lives of people
 in the communities in which they work, but also in developing countries,
 where microfinance truly helps families pull themselves out of poverty. CHI
 is truly taking a localized approach to supporting the poor here in the
 U.S. and around the globe."
 
 
 
     Catholic Health Initiatives follows on the heels of previous Community
 Investment Note investments by other health care systems, including Trinity
 Health and Catholic Healthcare West, both of which have invested millions
 in underserved communities over the past three years. These groups are part
 of a growing number of institutions working with Calvert Foundation to
 express their values through community investment.
 
 
 
     The investment by Catholic Health Initiatives is a major boost for
 Calvert Foundation, which, in the wake of the investment, has over $175
 million in assets. To date, this is the largest investment by a faith-based
 organization in the Community Investment Note program.
 
 
 
     "We have been fortunate to work with a range of faith-based groups from
 various denominations each with their own social impact objectives," said
 Berenbach. "Through our partnerships with faith-based institutions and
 congregations, we are able to help accomplish a common goal: helping fight
 poverty through investment."
 
 
 
     Catholic Health Initiatives' investment is in Calvert Foundation's
 flagship product, the Community Investment Note, a high-impact, fixed
 income investment that channels affordable capital to underserved
 communities and markets, providing economic opportunities where they are
 needed most. Calvert Foundation offers custom targeted portfolios for
 larger investors that align with their mission and desire for maximum
 social impact.
 
 
 
     ABOUT CALVERT FOUNDATION
 
 
 
     For over 12 years, Calvert Social Investment Foundation, a nonprofit
 501(c)(3) organization, has been working to make community investment a
 safe and logical option for all investors seeking to make a positive social
 impact. To make community investment accessible to a wider audience,
 Calvert Foundation has removed critical barriers by creating investment
 products that blend both financial and social returns. With more than $170
 million in assets, Calvert Foundation focuses on using investment capital,
 rather than conventional philanthropy, to create a sustainable, scalable
 model that enables nonprofit organizations, microfinance institutions and
 social enterprises to address critical social problems.
 
 
 
     ABOUT CATHOLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES
 
 
 
     Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization
 with headquarters in Denver. The faith-based system includes 72 hospitals;
 42 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; and two
 community health-services organizations in 19 states. Together, those
 facilities provided almost $480 million in community benefit in the 2007
 fiscal year, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and
 research. With approximately 65,000 employees and annual revenues of $7.7
 billion, Catholic Health Initiatives ranks as the nation's second-largest
 Catholic health care system.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCE Catholic Health Iniatives, Denver, CO; Calvert Foundation, Bethesda,