HONOLULU and SAN FRANCISCO, July 1,
2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.
About The United States Conference of Mayors
-- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official
nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or
more. There are nearly 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.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-conference-of-mayors-wells-fargo-award-1-million-to-cities-for-local-revitalization-economic-development-job-creation-300878827.html
SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors