Where We Live™ focuses on economic opportunity for residents and small businesses, prioritizing Wards 7 and 8
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced that it will commit
more than $1.6 billion in lending and philanthropy over five years
focused entirely on Washington,
D.C.
In an effort to unlock more economic opportunity across the city, Wells
Fargo created the Where We Live program, in collaboration with the
National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and local
organizations. The program will triple Wells Fargo’s community giving
and concentrate resources on the biggest needs identified by community
leaders: affordable housing, small business growth and job skills.
“Communities succeed when we all work together,” said Wells Fargo CEO
Tim Sloan. “The Where We Live program is rooted in two things:
investments that help people live, work and thrive, and a deep
understanding that neighborhoods need long-term partners. It builds on
Wells Fargo’s legacy of empowering residents and small businesses in our
nation’s capital for the past 100 years, and our desire to create a
compelling community investment model in Washington, D.C.”
“This is an important step by Wells Fargo to expand its investment in
the District, and to listen and work more closely with community
groups,” said John Taylor, President and Founder of NCRC. “Expanding
access to mortgage and small business loans is essential to closing the
wealth gap. Lenders need to listen and focus on the needs of the
communities where they do business. It's heartening to see Wells Fargo
strengthen its commitment to do just that.”
Wells Fargo developed Where We Live to harness the power of its broad
lending and community investment capabilities for greater impact, with
emphasis in Ward 7 and Ward 8. The company worked with NCRC — an
advocacy organization championing fairness in banking, housing and
business — as well as local housing, small business and nonprofits
leaders to design Where We Live.
In addition, Wells Fargo team members will work alongside community
leaders on Where We Live over the five-year project.
Focus areas
Wells Fargo has been in Washington, D.C. since 1914 with its first
location on G Street, Northwest. Since then, local investments in the
District have included support for education, the arts, and neighborhood
revitalization, among other community needs.
Wells Fargo’s new commitment includes:
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A five-year, $16 million philanthropic commitment that more than
triples Wells Fargo’s local giving, with a specific focus on Ward 7
and Ward 8. This philanthropy includes $4 million for Community
Development Financial Institutions to grow the small business
community and $6 million for nonprofit housing initiatives like down
payment assistance and development of affordable rental properties.
As
part of Where We Live, four organizations are among the first to
receive funding:
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DC Central Kitchen, $150,000. Wells Fargo will sponsor a
class of trainees and support the kitchen’s youth job training
center and retail café in Ward 8, where residents
can learn job skills and real-life work experience. The
project focuses on empowering youth who have become disconnected
from work and school to pursue promising hospitality careers.
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SOME (So Others May Eat), $100,000. Homeless families enter
this housing program with little income and minimal financial
management knowledge. Residents will work with on-site case
managers to create plans that outline financial, professional and
personal objectives. Goals include increasing savings, reducing
debt, securing and maintaining employment or completing job
training.
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Washington Area Community Investment Fund, $125,000. This
nonprofit community loan fund's mission is to increase equity and
economic opportunity in underserved communities by investing
knowledge, social, and financial capital in low- and
moderate-income entrepreneurs.
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MANNA, Inc., $125,000. This affordable housing nonprofit helps
low- and moderate-income individuals secure high-quality
housing. Wells Fargo support includes development funding for
MANNA’s Hunter Place project in Southeast Washington and homebuyer
counseling.
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Loans and equity investments totaling more than $1.5 billion. Wells
Fargo is pledging to maintain or grow market leader commitments in
home lending, small business lending and community lending and
investment over five years. For example, the Parkway Overlook
development in Ward 8 is one of the early Where We Live projects to
tap $90 million in lending and equity investments from Wells Fargo to
convert an abandoned housing complex into 220 affordable rental units.
Wells Fargo philanthropy
Wells Fargo is the No. 2 corporate cash donor in the U.S., according to The
Chronicle of Philanthropy. In 2017, the Wells Fargo Foundation
donated more than $286.5 million in 2017 to more than 14,500 nonprofits.
The company also is on track to increase its philanthropy by 40
percent in 2018, targeting $400 million in donations by the end of
the year. Beginning in 2019, Wells Fargo plans to invest 2 percent of
its after-tax profits in philanthropy.
Wells Fargo recently was recognized as one of the 100
Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility
Magazine for its environmental, social and governance performance
and disclosure practices. Wells Fargo also was recognized by Fortune magazine
as the third Most Generous Fortune 500 Company.
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, investment and mortgage products and
services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,950
locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile
banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support
customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately
262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the
United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018
rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and
perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells
Fargo Stories.
About NCRC
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition and its 600 grassroots
member organizations create opportunities for people to build wealth.
NCRC works with community leaders, policymakers and financial
institutions to champion fairness in banking, housing and business.
Learn more at www.ncrc.org.