Ten groups will share $500,000 handed out Thursday by Wells Fargo for programs aimed at neighborhood revitalization, small business support and education for potential homebuyers.
The Wells Fargo Foundation announced the grants with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. The Denver Office of Economic Development helped select the recipients for the awards, which fulfill a pledge the large bank .
The largest amount, $105,000, will go to Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver “to support critical home repair for more than 90 families,” according to Wells Fargo’s announcement.
Denver Health and Hospitals Foundation will receive $100,000 toward construction of .
“These grants are a significant boost to our ongoing efforts to create more livable communities throughout the city,” Hancock said, according to the news release.
Last year, Wells Fargo started a program aimed at providing $4.5 million in down-payment assistance to qualified homebuyers in Denver. The bank said Thursday that it had helped 250 people locally. That program was not related, Wells Fargo said, to a 2012 federal settlement in which it agreed to provide $50 million in down-payment assistance in several cities to resolve allegations of violating fair-lending laws.
The other community grant awards announced Thursday were:
• $75,000 to the Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute for a program supporting 150 small businesses.
• $50,000 to Brothers Redevelopment Inc. “for comprehensive housing counseling for individuals and families, and to support the Colorado Housing Connects online resource.”
• $50,000 to the Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corp. “in support of its Barrio Aztlan program, which provides housing counseling for families living in west and southwest Denver.”
• $40,000 to the Urban Land Conservancy for a project to in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood.
• $25,000 to support financial education and homeownership using “financial empowerment centers.”
• $25,000 to Volunteers of America’s Colorado branch for its Brandon Center, Theodora House and Veteran Service Center programs that help women, families and veterans become self-sufficient and end homelessness.
• $20,000 to the Colorado Housing Assistance Corporation for financial education and homeownership counseling.
• $10,000 to the Northeast Denver Housing Center for housing counseling programs.
Jon Murray: 303-954-1405, jmurray@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JonMurray
