U.S. Conference of Mayors, Wells Fargo Award $1 Million to Cities for Local Revitalization, Economic Development, Job Creation
July 01 2019 - 9:45AM
Business Wire
Mayors and nonprofits in Albuquerque, N.M.; Atlanta; New Haven,
Conn.; Romeoville, Ill., receive top honors in CommunityWINS
program
The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wells Fargo today announced
that Mayors Tim Keller of Albuquerque, N.M.; Keisha Bottoms of
Atlanta; Toni Harp of New Haven, Conn.; and John Noak of
Romeoville, Ill., are the top honorees with the 2019 CommunityWINS®
Grant Program. Launched in 2015, the program recognizes nonprofits
and cities that drive neighborhood stabilization, economic
development and job creation.
An independent panel of judges selected recipients of the Wells
Fargo Foundation-funded grants from 136 applicants representing
small, medium, large and metropolitan cities. The awards were
presented at the Conference’s 87th annual meeting in Honolulu,
Hawaii.
“The 2019 CommunityWINS Grant Program is an opportunity to honor
and showcase productive neighborhood revitalization efforts that
are making a real difference in communities across the country,”
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 continued support of the CommunityWINS
Program, which also celebrates the leadership of mayors and city
governments.”
The grant program, a collaboration between the U.S. Conference
of Mayors and Wells Fargo, also will extend into 2020, funded with
a total of $6 million from the Wells Fargo Foundation.
The 2019 CommunityWINS Grant Program honorees are:
- Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller receives the top honor in
the metropolitan city category, and the CNM Film Production Center
of Excellence at the Albuquerque Rail Yards is presented with a
$300,000 donation. Grant funds will be used for the planning and
design of the future CNM Film Production Center of Excellence. As
part of Albuquerque’s economic development plan, the city has
partnered with Central New Mexico Community College to revitalize
the Barelas neighborhood and historic Rail Yards building in
support of the state’s growing film industry. More than 200 major
productions have filmed in New Mexico since 2003.
- Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms is the top honoree in the
large city category, and nonprofit Women’s Academy receives a
$200,000 donation for its Wellspring Living, Inc. program, which
provides job training and critical support to women who are human
trafficking survivors or are vulnerable to human trafficking.
Wellspring enables survivors and at-risk young women with the
opportunity to earn their GED, receive therapeutic services and
participate in life skills, career readiness and technology
training that lead to high school diploma equivalency and
sustainable-wage employment placement. The Women's Academy
anticipates serving 80 women from Metro-Atlanta with job training,
apprenticeship, job placement services and support services over
the next year.
- New Haven Mayor Toni Harp is the top honoree among
medium city mayors, and Continuum of Care, Inc. receives a $150,000
grant for its Supported Training and Employment Program (STEP) for
citizens diagnosed with severe mental illness and developmental
disabilities. Started in 2016, STEP serves citizens with severe
mental illness and developmental disabilities. The grant funds will
be used for additional staff and equipment to expand the
apprenticeship and training aspect of the program, which prepares
participants for employment in fee-for-service cleaning,
landscaping, moving and food services.
- Romeoville, Ill. Mayor John Noak receives top honors
among small city mayors, and a $75,000 grant is awarded to Lewis
University in support of its Lewis Innovation Hub. The partnership
among Romeoville, Will County and Lewis University serves as a
business incubator for start-up companies. With the Lewis
Innovation Hub, college students and entrepreneurs receive access
to offices, meeting space, mentorships and an array of business
support resources and services to support local economic
development.
Additional 2019 CommunityWINS Grant Program Outstanding
Achievement awards honorees include:
- Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler receives honors among
metropolitan city mayors, and nonprofit Affordable Central Texas,
Inc. is awarded a $100,000 grant in support of The Austin Housing
Conservancy Fund. Through this effort, an innovative effort will be
initiated to provide a scaled housing affordability solution to
serve Austin’s workforce. The intended impact of this initiative is
to reverse income segregation and increase opportunity for Austin's
workforce to live in areas that foster health and well-being
through their access to jobs, transit, education, green grocery,
recreation and health services.
- Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is recognized among large
city mayors, and nonprofit Appetite For Change, Inc. is awarded a
$75,000 for grant in support of its initiative Hungry for Change:
Northside Food Economic Development, Neighborhood Revitalization
and Job Creation. Hungry for Change creates public, food-centered
economic opportunities accessible to minority-owned businesses and
generates jobs for minority residents in Minneapolis’
Northside.
- Duluth, Minn., Mayor Emily Larson is recognized among
medium city mayors, and nonprofit Ecolibrium3 is awarded a $50,000
grant in support of its Innovation Zone Energy and Education
Project. Ecolibrium3 provides solar power at the entrance of
Duluth’s lowest-income neighborhood to offset electrical usage at
the Duluth Veteran’s Place transitional housing project and to
create an Emergency Energy Fund assisting residents at risk of
utility shut-off. In addition, in collaboration with Duluth Public
School, the initiative will pilot helping students learn from
participating in community-based improvement projects and support a
volunteer-based energy efficiency and healthy housing program.
- Plainfield, N.J., Mayor Adrian Mapp is honored among
small city mayors, and Second Street Youth Center, Inc. is awarded
a $50,000 grant for the Second Street Youth Center Pathways to
Stabilization initiative. The grant funds will enable the nonprofit
to expand Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM)
programs for children. In addition, the center will expand the
computer technology program and add a Robotics Club and curriculum.
The STEAM program also incorporates the nonprofit’s Urban Farm,
providing opportunities for children to learn many STEAM skills
through growing fresh produce.
The Wells Fargo Foundation’s philanthropic support makes the
CommunityWINS Grant Program possible. Wells Fargo recently
announced an evolution of the company’s philanthropic strategy that
includes a $1 billion commitment to address the housing
affordability crisis, a $20 million challenge grant aimed at
accelerating housing solutions nationwide and an increased focus on
financial health and small business growth.
“Wells Fargo is pleased to join the U.S. Conference of Mayors to
make these grants available for nonprofits to further innovative
solutions to address community challenges,” said Connie Wright,
Wells Fargo Foundation’s assistant executive director of housing
philanthropy. “Wells Fargo wants to work with communities to bring
positive societal change, and the 2019 CommunityWINS grant program
is among several 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
Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo
& Company (NYSE:WFC) provides banking, investment and mortgage
products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance,
through 7,700 locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, and the internet
(wellsfargo.com). With approximately 262,000 team members, Wells
Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. With its
corporate philanthropy, Wells Fargo aims to pave a path to
stability and financial success for underserved communities by
applying a problem-solving mindset to housing affordability, small
business growth, and financial health, among other local community
needs. In 2018, Wells Fargo donated $444 million to nearly 11,000
nonprofits. For 10 consecutive years, Wells Fargo has held the
honor of No. 1 in workplace giving by United Way Worldwide. Wells
Fargo team members also actively support communities by donating
more than 2 million hours of volunteer time in the last year. News,
insights and more information on the company’s overall corporate
responsibility are available at Wells Fargo Stories.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190701005183/en/
Sara Durr, 202-215-1811 U.S. Conference of Mayors
sdurr@usmayors.org
or
Chris Hammond, 415-310-9152 Wells Fargo Foundation Corporate
Communications Chris.L.Hammond@wellsfargo.com @ChrisHammondWF
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