THE POWER OF HALF

One Family’s Journey Empowers Others to Give Back

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 16, 2010

Rebuilding Together, the nation’s leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership, announced today that it has been chosen by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as the charity partner for the newly-released book, The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back by Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen. This inspirational story, written by a father and his teenage daughter, chronicles the journey the Salwen Family takes to accomplish their mission of making a difference in the world.

The Power of Half’s publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, inspired by the actions of the family to give back to those in need, has chosen to donate $1 of each copy sold to Rebuilding Together. “The key message of The Power of Half is how much we gain by doing good together -- as a family, as a class, as a community or as partners -- so it is with great pleasure that we’ve joined with Rebuilding Together. Their position as the nation’s leading organization helping homeowners in need rebuild their homes and their neighborhoods, and their impact on Americans of all ages, make them a perfect fit for passing along Kevin and Hannah’s inspiring plan,” said Gary Gentel, President of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade and Reference Group.

“This is great book, one that should be read by every family or group hoping to take a journey that will change their own lives. It will impact so many others with its message of the countless possibilities of serving people in need,” states Gary Officer, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together. “Rebuilding Together is proud to be associated with a positive family memoir that has and will improve relationships, while improving the world around us.”

The Power of Half is the remarkable story of how the Salwens, prompted by teenage Hannah’s growing sense of injustice in the world, decided together as a family to sell their three-story home for a house half its size, and donate half the sale price to a charity of their choice: The Hunger Project. The book captures the powerful experience as the family discovered, together, that half could be so much more. Rebuilding Together is proud to help spread this message of performing positive acts together and encouraging others to find their personal Power of Half in their own lives.