Fortune Brands initiatives to support affordable housing

DEERFIELD - Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. said it will participate in two affordable housing initiatives, including one in Lake County, to celebrate its 10th anniversary of becoming a publicly-traded company.

For its first initiative, Fortune Brands worked with Rebuilding Together, a national nonprofit organization with the mission to repair the homes of people in need, to create the Dreams of Home community revitalization project. The new project launches with a $500,000 commitment from Fortune Brands to support critical home repairs for underserved neighbors in communities near several of the company's operations, including the Chicago metro area; Northeastern Ohio; Rogue Valley, Oregon; and the greater Charlotte, North Carolina, area.

The company's second affordable housing initiative supports Habitat for Humanity in Lake County. Through a $150,000 donation made this year, Fortune Brand is sponsoring the 5 Homes for 5 Families project. The contribution will fund the construction of a new home in the county where Fortune Brands is headquartered. This donation brings Fortune Brands' total support for Habitat for Humanity to over $1 million since 2011.

"Since becoming an independent company ten years ago, our purpose has been fulfilling dreams of home," said Nicholas Fink, chief executive officer of Fortune Brands, a home and security products company. "This purpose drives everything that we do, and today, on our 10th anniversary, I am so pleased to announce our participation in two initiatives that help make the dreams of home more attainable for families in our communities."