Wells Fargo Contributes $250,000 for Bay Area Affordable Housing, Revitalization Efforts
Local NeighborhoodLIFT grants, down payment assistance will help create about 280 homeowners
SAN FRANCISCO, June 26, 2018 /3BL Media/– Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced a total of $250,000 in donations for three local nonprofits to support affordable housing and youth and family programs in the East Bay Area.
“These efforts are part of our ongoing commitment to building strong communities,” said Stephen Hitchcock, Wells Fargo Diablo Bay Region Bank President. “Whether it’s strengthening families and helping position our youth for success or helping make homeownership more affordable and sustainable, we are devoted to making a positive change and are very excited about what we will accomplish together.”
The Wells Fargo grants are intended to support neighborhood revitalization efforts through the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT® program from the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT program local initiative grants will be awarded to the following Bay Area nonprofits:
- Success through Self Academy will receive $80,000 through local initiatives to support a Youth Mentoring and Food Literacy Program designed to curtail risk factors for Pittsburg K-12, inner-city youth through mentorship and to decrease childhood obesity risk through the youth food literacy curriculum in partnership with 100 Black Men and the University of California–Davis. The academy helps children reach their full potential by establishing frequent and direct communication among parents, teachers and students. It is the largest provider of afterschool services in East Contra Costa County and serves more than 1,600 young people daily at 14 locations within the city of Pittsburg, California.
- Hamilton Families will receive $85,000 in support of a long-term approach to build families’ financial stability and strengthen socioemotional skills in formerly homeless children. Hamilton Families offers a comprehensive suite of programs at sites in San Francisco and Oakland that work to end family homelessness whenever possible, by providing shelter and stability for families in crisis, returning families to permanent housing, and supporting the well-being of all family members to ensure long term stability and well-being. In 2016–17, Hamilton Families served 512 families in all programs.
- Richmond Community Foundation will receive $85,000 to support the Richmond Housing Renovation Program, which aims to renovate and sell 40 blighted and abandoned properties to low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers over the five years of the pilot program. Richmond has approximately 800 such properties, and the city’s Code Enforcement Department manages about 250 of them at any given time. The Richmond Community Foundation acquires, renovates, and sells homes throughout the city using an innovative financial tool called a social impact bond. The foundation’s SparkPoint Contra Costa initiative ensures that there is a ready pool of first-time buyers to purchase the homes. SparkPoint Contra Costa operates financial education centers that help individuals and families.
About 280 homeowners assisted in the San Francisco Bay Area
The NeighborhoodLIFT program local initiative grants are part of an effort expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area in November 2017 with a $9.725 million commitment by Wells Fargo to boost local homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods. The NeighborhoodLIFT program has assisted 224 homeowners in the area by offering homebuyer education plus $30,000 down payment assistance grants, and another 56 homebuyers are on the path to becoming homeowners through the program in collaboration with NeighborWorks® America and its network member, Community Housing Development Corporation.
Since February 2012, LIFT programs have helped create more than 17,600 homeowners in 60 communities. A video about the NeighborhoodLIFT program 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, 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.
