Bank of America 2021 Neighborhood Builders

Sacramento, CA – Programs that help address the local issues around community health and safety and workforce development will be able to scale, helping even more people through a multi-year grant from Bank of America. Sacramento LGBT Community Center and the West Modesto Community Collaborative have been named as the 2021 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardees for their work in the Greater Sacramento community addressing these issues.

As a Neighborhood Builder, each organization receives a $200,000 grant over two years, comprehensive leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader on topics ranging from increasing financial sustainability, human capital management and strategic storytelling, joins a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and gets the opportunity to access capital to expand their impact. The program continues to be the nation’s largest investment into nonprofit leadership development.

“As communities continue to recover and navigate a changing landscape, nonprofits are still experiencing significant demands and are in need of resources like financial literacy, education and job training programs,” said CP Parmar, president, Bank of America Greater Sacramento. “The Sacramento LGBT Community Center and West Modesto Community Collaborative are helping bridge important gaps to help people chart a path toward economic opportunity and success. Programs like Neighborhood Builders helps these organizations grow sustainably and strategically for greater positive impact in the P

Pre-pandemic, transgender workers in the Greater Sacramento area reported unemployment at three times the rate of the population as a whole; 40% of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ+ the majority of whom became homeless due to family and community rejection. The global pandemic has exacerbated these pre-existing disparities. The Sacramento LGBT Community Center will use the funds to accelerate development of the Economic Justice Program to assist more LGBTQ+ people in obtaining and maintaining employment, increase the number of workplace training we can provide, and meet the demand for basic needs that increase employment stability and self-reliance… while supporting LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness to build job readiness skills and increase their financial capabilities.

“This Neighborhood Builders funding will allow us to engage with about 1,000 people including helping us get to achieve the goal of reaching disconnected LGBTQ+ youth, engaging community members in job training and financial literacy programs, and work to decrease the unemployment rate among community members to match the published rates in the general population,” Says Robynne Rose-Haymer, Deputy Chief Program Officer at the Sacramento LGBT Community Center. “Also, by building our Training Institute, employers in the region can build more equitable, affirming and inclusive workspaces. Bank of America’s commitment and support helps raise awareness of our organization and will help more local LGBTQ+ community members chart a path toward economic opportunity and stability.”

West Modesto is one of the more ethnically diverse communities and one of the most economically disadvantaged in Stanislaus County. With an 18% unemployment rate compared to the 6.9% rate statewide, 65% of its residents are monolingual of Hispanic/Latino background in West Modesto. West Modesto Community Collaborative will use the grant to strengthen its workforce development programs to connect people to jobs and aid to help the county’s economic recovery. Additionally, the grant will fund the hiring of additional staff and develop an advocacy training program for community members to deliver solutions addressing issues that have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Providing this leadership training to our own community members will help bring greater attention to issues and allow us to develop shared analysis and more effective solutions to address health and economic inequities,” said Perfecto Munoz, Executive Director, West Modesto Community Collaborative. “The two immediate issues we see in this area are housing and economic development so we’re starting there. We all know that a healthy body and healthy mind doesn’t occur without having a job, so empowering residents with training in finding solutions and opportunities is something we’re very excited about.”

The invitation-only program is highly competitive, and leading members of the community participated in a collaborative selection process to identify this year’s awardees.

Since 2004, Bank of America has invested over $5.5 million into 29 Greater Sacramento area nonprofits through the Neighborhood Builders program. Nationally, the bank directed $280 million across the U.S. to more than 1,400 nonprofits and helped more than 2,800 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills since the program launch.

Bank of America
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

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Reporters May Contact:
Lilly Cortes Wyatt, Bank of America,
925.408.2737
Lilly@LillyWyattPR.com