BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wells Fargo today announced that Mayors Robert Garcia of Long Beach, Calif.; Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio; and Jamael Tito Brown of Youngstown, Ohio, received top honors on behalf of nonprofits in their cities with the 2018 CommunityWINS® Grant Program funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation.
Presented at the conference’s 86th annual meeting in Boston, the awards recognize nonprofits and cities for leadership in driving neighborhood stabilization, economic development and job creation. An independent panel of judges selected recipients of the Wells Fargo-funded grants from 188 applicants representing small, medium and large cities.
Launched in 2015 with a three-year, $3 million commitment, the CommunityWINS grants program will extend into 2020 with an additional $3 million investment by the Wells Fargo Foundation, bringing the total to $6 million over six years.
“The conference and Wells Fargo share similar values focused on helping communities across the U.S. succeed, and the 2018 CommunityWINS Grant Program is an opportunity to honor productive neighborhood revitalization efforts that are making a difference,” 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 support of the CommunityWINS Program, which also highlights the leadership of mayors and city governments.”
- Long Beach, Calif., Mayor Robert Garcia received the top honor, and a $300,000 grant was awarded to nonprofit Pacific Gateway Workforce Partnership for the Citywide Market for Hourly Labor program. Seventy percent of those with irregular work schedules in the area are disabled or caregivers who work uncertain hours, often for multiple employers. Using software, the city of Long Beach will create a healthy marketplace for hourly labor built around protections, progress, individual control and alignment with employers’ needs. Long Beach will establish a local project team to implement the program.
- Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley was recognized, and a $150,000 grant was awarded to the nonprofit Greater Dayton Union Cooperative Initiative to fund the city’s first cooperative enterprise — called the Gem City Market — a vibrant, community-centered, full-service grocery store. The market will be located in a section of Dayton where more than 40 percent of residents have low incomes and live more than a mile from a grocery store. At 15,000 square feet, the market will provide access to affordable, high-quality food, with fresh produce and meat departments that include items from urban and regional farms and gardens.
- Youngstown, Ohio, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown was recognized, and a $150,000 grant was awarded to the nonprofit Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation for the REVITALIZE Youngstown Program. The REVITALIZE Youngstown Initiative is a multi-stakeholder public and private partnership led by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation to stabilize the city’s distressed and transitional neighborhoods by making strategic investments to eradicate blight and improve housing and property conditions. Grant funds will be used to complete the renovation of 2246 Glenwood Avenue, a vacant and underutilized commercial property along a major city corridor. The renovations will modernize the 18,000-square-feet structure into several turn-key spaces for multiple neighborhood-serving small businesses.
Additional 2018 CommunityWINS Grant Program Outstanding Achievement awards also were presented:
- Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh was honored, and Year Up Greater Boston Workforce Development Program at Roxbury Community College received a $75,000 grant. The Year Up Greater Boston Workforce Development Program serves students 18–24 through a high-support, high-expectation model that combines marketable job skills, educational stipends, professional internships and college credit recommendations. In 2018, the program will serve 80 students and hopes to expand to 160 in 2019.
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South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Peter Buttigieg was honored, and Near
Northwest Neighborhood, Inc.’s Building Inclusion: South Bend Minority
& Women Contractor Training Program received a $50,000 grant. The
program identifies emerging minority- and women-owned contracting
businesses and offers low-cost training and certification
opportunities in two training cohorts to reduce barriers to full
participation in the local business community. The grant funds will be
used to create and operate a yearlong program of training and
certification for minority and women contractors.
- Rochester Hills, Mich., Mayor Bryan K. Barnett was honored, and the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester initiative: Pathway to Public Service received a $50,000 grant. Grant monies will fund the active engagement of local high school students to generate greater awareness and interest in municipal careers and enable students of all backgrounds to pursue occupations in city government.
All grants were presented by Wells Fargo during the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 86th annual meeting. Wells Fargo’s support makes the CommunityWINS Grant Program possible.
“Wells Fargo is pleased to team with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to make these grants available for nonprofits and enable them to revitalize neighborhoods,” said Martin Sundquist, executive director of the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation. “Wells Fargo cares about the communities we serve, and the 2018 CommunityWINS grant program is among several economic empowerment 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
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.