KeyBank Foundation Awards $100,000 Grant To Make the Road To Support ESOL Classes for Low-Income Immigrants in Westchester

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., February 7, 2024 /3BL/ – KeyBank announces a two-year, $100,000 community impact grant made through KeyBank Foundation to Make The Road New York, the largest participatory immigrant organization in New York. The grant will help sustain the organization’s Westchester Adult Education Project, which educates low-income immigrant adults in Westchester with English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Civics classes. With KeyBank’s funding, the program will be able to serve at least 40 ESOL students each year, helping them improve their communication skills to better integrate into the community and live more economically stable and healthier lives.

Students served by the Westchester Adult Education Project are from Mexico, Guatemala and across Central and South America, many working in low-wage jobs with lack of access to healthcare and experiencing housing instability. ESOL classes support students to learn English so they can advocate for their rights at work, interact with healthcare providers, help their children with schooling, and more. Civics classes support eligible students to prepare for their citizenship exams. KeyBank’s funds will be used for program implementation including personnel.

Westchester Adult Education Project student Edna Contreras is very grateful for KeyBank’s support. “The (ESOL) classes have helped me improve my communication skills and now I am able to have a fluent conversation with my doctor, at work with my boss, and with the teachers at my son’s school,” she said. “A new grant from the KeyBank Foundation will enable these classes to continue to help dozens more immigrants in Westchester learn English, get better jobs, and navigate life in New York.”

Make The Road New York annually serves 30,000 immigrants from across the Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City. Their centers are neighborhood hubs providing educational programs, as well as wraparound services such as immigration legal services, computer and financial literacy, employment training and job placement, health insurance and benefits enrollment, and more.

“KeyBank believes in doing our part to improve the lives of disadvantaged populations in our neighborhoods through education, workforce development, and community investment,” said KeyBank Market President John Manginelli. “As a company recognized for our strong Diversity, Equity and Inclusion culture, we welcome people of all cultures to our community and are proud to help support their successful assimilation.”

KeyBank’s grant to Make The Road New York is part of the bank’s $40 billion community investments plan focused on economic access and equity to communities across the country. The scope of the plan includes investments and lending in affordable housing, home lending, small business lending, green initiatives, and transformative philanthropy targeted toward workforce development, education, and safe, vital neighborhoods for underserved communities and populations.

About Make The Road 

Make the Road New York (MRNY) builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice. We do this through four key strategies: community organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and the provision of legal and survival services. We serve 30,000 New Yorkers a year from our vibrant community centers in Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens, Staten Island, and Westchester.

About KeyCorp/KeyBank 

KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $188 billion at December 31, 2023. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC

About KeyBank Foundation: 

KeyBank Foundation serves to fulfill KeyBank’s purpose to help clients and communities thrive, and its mission is to support organizations and programs that prepare people for thriving futures. The Foundation’s mission is advanced through three funding priorities – neighbors, education, and workforce – and through community service. To provide meaningful philanthropy that transforms lives, KeyBank Foundation listens carefully to understand the unique characteristics and needs of its communities and then backs solutions with targeted philanthropic investments. KeyBank Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation, funded by KeyCorp.

CONTACT: Karen Crane. Regional Communications Manager | 203-789-2752 | Karen_crane@keybank.com