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Local Voices

Community Update

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation today announced $362,000 in community development grants to 19 nonprofits in Philadelphia to help individuals and families achieve and sustain financial stability.


 The investment will help improve access to affordable housing, preserve neighborhoods, provide financial education and coaching for future homeowners and support organizations and initiatives that contribute to the success of Philadelphia communities. 


 “We’re working with community partners to help connect individuals and families to affordable housing and financial education as a first step toward long-term stability,” said Tom Woodward, Pennsylvania market president, Bank of America. “It’s part of our broader efforts to help improve the financial lives of our customers, clients and communities.”

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 The organizations receiving grants include:


 ·         Asociacion Puertorriqeunos en Marcha (APM), which will use the funding to support its Financial Opportunities Center. The center aims to stabilize the lives of residents through financial education, benefits counseling, asset building, job readiness and life skills and career services.

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  • Clarifi, which will use the funding for its Financial Smarts initiative. The program supports homeowner retention and neighborhood stabilization through education and counseling that help individuals and families build knowledge, improve credit, manage money effectively, overcome debts, and obtain and maintain stable housing.


  •  ·         Community Design Collaborative will use the funding to support providing small businesses and community groups with professional design services. The Collaborative, for example, will assist business owners with design plans for physical improvements to the building exteriors, helping revitalize neighborhoods and spur community development.    


     


     


     


    The Bank of America Charitable Foundation is also awarding grants to the African American Museum, CEIBA Inc., The Enterprise Center, Fairmount Park Conservancy, FINANTA, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Neighborhood Housing, Please Touch Museum, Southwest Community Development Corporation, Urban Affairs Coalition and Philadelphia Zoo.


     


    In addition to more than $23 million in housing grants across the U.S., the company addresses housing issues in a number of other ways including extending approximately $52 billion in mortgage loans in the first half of 2013 to more than 218,000 borrowers. Thirty-five percent of these loans have been made to low- to moderate-income individuals and families. Bank of America offers assistance and educational support to provide more transparency and clarity about the homebuying process, including working with more than 550 housing counseling agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additionally, through its Community Development Banking business, Bank of America Merrill Lynch provided more than $1.6 billion in financing and equity commitments in the first half of 2013, which will help create more than 6,500 affordable housing units.


     

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