Local NeighborhoodLIFT grants support economic and workforce development, youth programs and neighborhood beautification
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced a total of $500,000 in
donations to five local nonprofits to help revitalize Raleigh-Durham
neighborhoods through the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT
®
program.
Identified in collaboration with Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane and
Durham Mayor William Bell, the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT local
initiative grants will provide support for economic and workforce
development, youth programs and neighborhood beautification.
“The Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT grants announced today are an
investment in the Raleigh community,” said Raleigh Mayor Nancy
McFarlane. “The five local nonprofits have a history of success and the
key services and assistance funded by the grants will offer meaningful
opportunities to improve the lives of our citizens and broader
community.”
“This program will impact our city and county by helping create jobs,
beautify neighborhoods and further sustainable housing efforts,” said
Durham Mayor William Bell. “As a longtime advocate for affordable
housing, I’m grateful to Wells Fargo for this significant investment in
our community, and look forward to watching the efforts of these
nonprofits come to fruition.”
The NeighborhoodLIFT local initiative grants are funded by the Wells
Fargo Foundation for the following Raleigh-Durham nonprofits:
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Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) will receive a
$100,000 grant to foster economic development in underserved
communities by providing capital, business services and policy
research in support of small businesses. It will aid efforts of the
LaunchRaleigh initiative, which supports lending to underserved
borrowers. LaunchRaleigh is a collaborative effort between the North
Raleigh Rotary Club, Passage Homes and the Wake Tech/Wells Fargo
Center for Entrepreneurship.
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Inter-Faith Shuttle will receive a $100,000 grant to support
the BackPack Buddies program, which provides nutritious, kid-friendly
meals to children from low-income households for the weekend.
Inter-Faith Shuttle pioneers innovative, transformative solutions
designed to end hunger in the community.
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Passage Home Inc. will receive a $100,000 grant to support
continued job training and placement services, helping to break the
cycle of poverty while empowering families. In addition, funding will
be used toward a commercial development project to revitalize south
Raleigh, a low-income neighborhood that is experiencing rapid
gentrification.
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Reinvestment Partners will receive a $100,000 grant to preserve
and protect affordable housing in Durham. The organization has
purchased a four-unit blighted, vacant property that is stripped down
to its studs. Funding will go toward transforming the property into an
affordable housing unit.
-
StepUp Durham will receive a $100,000 grant to fund a year-long
initiative to train and place 100 Durham residents into jobs. The
program will include interview coaching, job search strategies,
financial counseling and more. Participants will also be connected to
StepUp’s network of nonprofit partners that can assist with other
needs such as housing and childcare.
The Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT
program launched in
February 2017 for Wake and Durham County homebuyers with a $5 million
commitment by Wells Fargo to boost local homeownership and revitalize
neighborhoods. Wells Fargo collaborated with NeighborWorks America and
its local network member, DHIC Inc., to locally administer the
NeighborhoodLIFT program and provide home down payment assistance grants
up to $7,500 for about 450 Raleigh-Durham homebuyers. Currently, more
than 240 NeighborhoodLIFT down payment assistance grants are still
available for Wake and Durham County homebuyers, 115 homeowners have
been created, and more than 100 homebuyers are in the process of closing
a grant and home loan.
“Wells Fargo is committed to volunteerism, financial education and
strengthening our city’s neighborhoods through sustainable housing and
economic development including for low-and-moderate income households,”
said Jack Clayton, regional president for Wells Fargo. “Each of today’s
grant recipients has shown a commitment to the revitalization of Wake
and Durham counties and understand that homeownership and access to
financial education are key factors in creating multi-generational
wealth and thriving neighborhoods.”
About NeighborhoodLIFT
NeighborhoodLIFT® program is the single largest corporate
philanthropic effort of its kind in Wells Fargo’s history. In
collaboration with NeighborWorks America, the Wells Fargo LIFT program
has helped create more than 14,100 homeowners in 52 communities since
2012. A video about NeighborhoodLIFT programs is posted on Wells
Fargo Stories.
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, insurance, investments, mortgage, and
consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,500 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 271,000 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.