Robin Hood Honors Four New York City Heroes

    NEW YORK, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Robin Hood, one of the city's leading
 poverty-fighting organizations, today hosted the 18th annual Heroes Award
 Breakfast honoring three New Yorkers and The Georgetown Company for their
 unwavering commitment to improving the lives of under-privileged New
 Yorkers and the local community. The event was held for the third year at
 the Mandarin Oriental New York.
 
     Each year, recipients of the Heroes Awards are presented with a grant
 for $50,000. This year's recipients were the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer
 Care and Prevention, Non-Traditional Employment for Women (NEW) and the
 Legal Aid Society for Single Stop. In addition, The Georgetown Company was
 recognized for their pro-bono work for the development of two new charter
 high schools in the city.
 
     Presenters for the 2007 Heroes Awards were Paul Jones, John Sykes, Tom
 Brokaw, Tiki Barber and Dee Dee Ricks.
 
     "It is a great honor to present the 2007 Heroes awards to this
 inspiring group of individuals and I thank them for their dedication,
 commitment and unfailing belief that we can all make a difference," said
 Bob Pittman, chair of Robin Hood's Board of Directors and host of the
 Heroes Breakfast.
 
     Robin Hood is honored to present the following organizations with the
 2007 Heroes awards as well as recognize the work of The Georgetown Company.
 Additional information about each of the honorees and award recipients is
 outlined below.
 
     Dr. Harold Freeman, Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention
 
     Dr. Harold Freeman is quite literally responsible for raising the
 cancer survival rate in Harlem. In 1967, Dr. Freeman was a young cancer
 surgeon when he came to work at Harlem Hospital. After arriving, he
 witnessed first hand the startling statistic that the five year survival
 rate for women in Harlem with breast cancer was 30 percent. At that same
 time, in white or wealthier communities it was 70 percent. To aid in
 correcting this imbalance, Dr. Freeman established the Breast Examination
 Center of Harlem. Shortly thereafter, he became President of the American
 Cancer Society and the chief architect of the Cancer Society's initiative
 on Cancer in the Poor. In 1990, that effort led to Dr. Freeman creating
 "patient navigation" which is now taking root in hospitals and clinics
 around the world. Today, the survival rate for breast cancer in Harlem
 stands at 70 percent.
 
     Rochelle James, Non-Traditional Employment for Women (NEW)
 
     For many of the poor women in New York, most of Rochelle James' story
 will sound all too familiar. Her fiance was murdered shortly before they
 were to be married and she spent 10 years on and off welfare as a single
 mom. She later became a victim of domestic violence and barely escaped with
 her life. However, because of NEW her story has taken a brighter turn.
 Rochelle now has her own home and works as an electrician making $47 an
 hour. NEW is one of Robin Hood's most powerful anti-poverty investments,
 helping 400 New York City women a year to achieve economic self-sufficiency
 by training them for union- scale apprenticeships -- turning them into
 carpenters, electricians and construction workers. Not to mention
 breadwinners and role models. Rochelle's son is trying to follow her
 footsteps into the union. Her second child, a daughter, is in the Robin
 Hood-supported school, Leadership Prep.
 
     Marshall Green, Legal Aid Society
 
     Robin Hood operates 40 Single Stop sites in the five boroughs helping
 20,000 New York City families per year access benefits, meet with financial
 counselors, file for the EITC, and receive legal assistance all for free,
 and all in one convenient location. Marshall Green from the Legal Aid
 Society has been an attorney for 32 years, and has been instrumental in
 launching and running Single Stop's legal assistance. To put that in real
 terms -- there are thousands of people who have been evicted from their
 homes, been fighting custody battles, and/or been bankrupt by medical bills
 who have been helped by Marshall (in six languages). In 2006 alone, nearly
 6,000 families received legal assistance and more than 5,000 of those cases
 had successful outcomes. In 32 years of often frustrating cases, Marshall
 has not lost his passion or become jaded and still relishes each triumph
 for his clients.
 
     Marshall Rose, Adam Flatto and Joe Rose, The Georgetown Company
 
     Eighteen months ago, Robin Hood set out to fill a need in New York:
 there was no high school in the city for middle-school graduates of three
 top charter-management networks, and not enough scholarships to get them
 into private schools that would prepare them for a college education.
 Through the generosity of donors, matching grants from the Department of
 Education and new market tax credits, Robin Hood raised enough to build two
 high schools. To bring this plan to fruition, Robin Hood required the
 assistance of a skilled and dogged group of professionals -- New York City
 real estate is not for the faint of heart. The Georgetown Company is making
 this dream a reality. In recognition of the amazing and voluminous pro bono
 work they've provided for the on-going planning and development of these
 high schools, Robin Hood honored The Georgetown Company and in particular,
 Marshall Rose and Adam Flatto and Joe Rose.
 
     About Robin Hood:
 
     Robin Hood fights poverty in New York City by finding, funding and
 partnering with over 240 of the most effective programs and schools in the
 city's poorest neighborhoods, and then providing management assistance and
 support services to make them even stronger. In 2006, Robin Hood invested
 more than $76 million in programs and schools and committed $66 million to
 capital projects to help poverty-stricken New Yorkers build better lives
 for themselves and their families. Because the Robin Hood board of
 directors pays for all administrative, evaluation and fundraising expenses,
 100 percent of donations go directly to the city's best anti-poverty
 programs. www.robinhood.org
 
 
 

SOURCE Robin Hood