Program honors mayors and nonprofits in Long Beach, Calif., and Dayton and Youngstown, Ohio
The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wells Fargo today announced that
Mayors Robert Garcia of Long Beach, Calif.; Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio;
and Jamael Tito Brown of Youngstown, Ohio, received top honors on behalf
of nonprofits in their cities with the 2018 CommunityWINS®
Grant Program funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Presented at the conference’s 86th annual meeting in Boston, the awards
recognize nonprofits and cities for leadership in driving neighborhood
stabilization, economic development and job creation. An independent
panel of judges selected recipients of the Wells Fargo-funded grants
from 188 applicants representing small, medium and large cities.
Launched in 2015 with a three-year, $3 million commitment, the
CommunityWINS grants program will extend into 2020 with an additional $3
million investment by the Wells Fargo Foundation, bringing the total to
$6 million over six years.
“The conference and Wells Fargo share similar values focused on helping
communities across the U.S. succeed, and the 2018 CommunityWINS Grant
Program is an opportunity to honor productive neighborhood
revitalization efforts that are making a difference,” said Tom Cochran,
CEO and executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “We
appreciate Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation for their support
of the CommunityWINS Program, which also highlights the leadership of
mayors and city governments.”
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Long Beach, Calif., Mayor Robert Garcia received the top honor,
and a $300,000 grant was awarded to nonprofit Pacific Gateway
Workforce Partnership for the Citywide Market for Hourly Labor
program. Seventy percent of those with irregular work schedules in the
area are disabled or caregivers who work uncertain hours, often for
multiple employers. Using software, the city of Long Beach will create
a healthy marketplace for hourly labor built around protections,
progress, individual control and alignment with employers’ needs. Long
Beach will establish a local project team to implement the program.
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Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley was recognized, and a $150,000
grant was awarded to the nonprofit Greater Dayton Union Cooperative
Initiative to fund the city’s first cooperative enterprise — called
the Gem City Market — a vibrant, community-centered, full-service
grocery store. The market will be located in a section of Dayton where
more than 40 percent of residents have low incomes and live more than
a mile from a grocery store. At 15,000 square feet, the market will
provide access to affordable, high-quality food, with fresh produce
and meat departments that include items from urban and regional farms
and gardens.
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Youngstown, Ohio, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown was recognized, and a
$150,000 grant was awarded to the nonprofit Youngstown Neighborhood
Development Corporation for the REVITALIZE Youngstown Program. The
REVITALIZE Youngstown Initiative is a multi-stakeholder public and
private partnership led by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development
Corporation to stabilize the city’s distressed and transitional
neighborhoods by making strategic investments to eradicate blight and
improve housing and property conditions. Grant funds will be used to
complete the renovation of 2246 Glenwood Avenue, a vacant and
underutilized commercial property along a major city corridor. The
renovations will modernize the 18,000-square-feet structure into
several turn-key spaces for multiple neighborhood-serving small
businesses.
Additional 2018 CommunityWINS Grant Program Outstanding Achievement
awards also were presented:
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Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh was honored, and Year Up
Greater Boston Workforce Development Program at Roxbury Community
College received a $75,000 grant. The Year Up Greater Boston Workforce
Development Program serves students 18–24 through a high-support,
high-expectation model that combines marketable job skills,
educational stipends, professional internships and college credit
recommendations. In 2018, the program will serve 80 students and hopes
to expand to 160 in 2019.
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South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Peter Buttigieg was honored, and Near
Northwest Neighborhood, Inc.’s Building Inclusion: South Bend Minority
& Women Contractor Training Program received a $50,000 grant. The
program identifies emerging minority- and women-owned contracting
businesses and offers low-cost training and certification
opportunities in two training cohorts to reduce barriers to full
participation in the local business community. The grant funds will be
used to create and operate a yearlong program of training and
certification for minority and women contractors.
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Rochester Hills, Mich., Mayor Bryan K. Barnett was honored, and
the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester initiative: Pathway to
Public Service received a $50,000 grant. Grant monies will fund the
active engagement of local high school students to generate greater
awareness and interest in municipal careers and enable students of all
backgrounds to pursue occupations in city government.
All grants were presented by Wells Fargo during the U.S. Conference of
Mayors’ 86th annual meeting. Wells Fargo’s support makes the
CommunityWINS Grant Program possible.
“Wells Fargo is pleased to team with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to
make these grants available for nonprofits and enable them to revitalize
neighborhoods,” said Martin Sundquist, executive director of the Wells
Fargo Housing Foundation. “Wells Fargo cares about the communities we
serve, and the 2018 CommunityWINS grant program is among several
economic empowerment efforts we support to strengthen communities.”
About USCM
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization
of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400
such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the
Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook
at facebook.com/usmayors,
or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based
financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s
vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them
succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco,
Wells Fargo provides banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and
commercial finance through 8,200 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet
(wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and
territories to support customers who conduct business in the global
economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one
in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was
ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017 rankings of America’s largest
corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also
available at Wells
Fargo Stories.
