Washington, DC, August 15, 2008 – The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) today announced it received a $10 million Program Related Investment (PRI) from Bank of America, to improve affordable housing opportunities for rural Americans. The investment, the largest private commitment HAC has received to date, will allow the organization to provide financing for the creation and preservation of affordable housing in rural communities across the country.

“Millions of low-income rural families needed better, more affordable homes even before the housing market slump,” stated Housing Assistance Council Executive Director Moises Loza. “The demand for HAC’s lending resources has outpaced our ability to make loans to local organizations that build or rehabilitate affordable homes. We are delighted that Bank of America is helping address the needs of rural communities by helping us create more funding opportunities for these critical projects.”

A PRI, which is a long-term, repayable loan/investment, is a specially structured product available only to certified Community Development Financial Institutions like HAC. This investment will help capitalize HAC’s Rural Housing Loan Fund, which provides short-term loans at below market rates to local nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and government entities developing affordable housing for low-income rural residents. Since 1971, HAC loans have been used to build more than 60,000 affordable homes for low-income rural renters and homeowners. Bank of America’s PRI will target rural communities in states to include Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington.

“As a leader in community development, Bank of America recognizes the key role HAC plays in increasing the supply of affordable housing to rural, low-income families,” said Elizabeth Ferrer, Global Community Development Executive, Bank of America. “Our commitment to rural and native communities is one of the cornerstones of our community development efforts nationwide, and HAC is an important partner in helping us deliver this support.”

In addition to the PRI, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation also provided HAC with a $200,000 grant for general support of the organization’s mission of creating affordable housing in high-need and underserved areas of rural America. Often, such groups and regions have few other intermediaries or other resources to call on for help. HAC will use these funds to promote homeownership, affordable rental opportunities, housing preservation, and rural development by providing technical assistance and training to nonprofit organizations, making small seed grants and investments, and building rural nonprofit capacity by strengthening rural networks.

Organizations receiving support from the Bank of America/HAC PRI include:

Organization	State	County
Housing America Corporation	AZ	Yuma
Mercy Housing California	CA	Yuba
Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation	CA	Mendocino
Florida Home Partnership, Inc.	FL	Hillsborough
Florida Low Income Housing Associates, Inc.	FL	Citrus
Homes in Partnership, Inc.	FL	Orange
South East Georgia Community Development Corporation	GA	Glynn
Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services, Inc.	KS	Sedgwick
Rural Development, Inc.	MA	Franklin
Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Council, Inc.	MD	St. Mary’s
The Housing Assistance Corporation	NC	Hendersonville
Lower Valley Housing Corporation	TX	El Paso
Organizacion Progresiva de San Elizario	TX	El Paso

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, more than 18,500 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 25 million active users. Bank of America offers industry leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. More information is available at www.bankofamerica.com.

About Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy
Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, Bank of America will embark in 2009 on a new, ten-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2007, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world and the second largest donor of all U.S. corporations in cash contributions. Bank of America approaches giving through a national strategy called “neighborhood excellence” under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Through Team Bank of America, bank associate volunteers contributed more than 650,000 hours in 2007 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

About HAC
Founded in 1971, the Housing Assistance Council is a national nonprofit corporation headquartered in Washington, D.C. that helps local organizations build affordable homes in rural America by providing below-market financing, technical assistance, research, training, and information services. HAC’s programs focus on local solutions, empowerment of the poor, reduced dependency, and self-help strategies. HAC is an equal opportunity lender. More information is available at www.ruralhome.org.

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