Bank of America Awards more than $1.2 Million to Area Nonprofits

Bank of America has announced more than $1.2 million in grants to 24 Sacramento nonprofits that will help drive economic opportunity and upward mobility for individuals and families and put them on a path toward stability and success.

The local nonprofits receiving funding primarily provide workforce development services building pathways to employment, including providing education and resources to rebuild careers that may have been impacted by the pandemic. Additional programs funded by these grants support basic needs such as hunger relief, healthcare and emergency shelter, resources also critical throughout the pandemic.

“The strategic investment into immediate short-term and longer-term needs has been key in helping disadvantaged communities progress as society begins to safely reopen,” said CP Parmar, President, Bank of America Greater Sacramento. “By investing in Greater Sacramento’s incredible network of nonprofits, Bank of America provides philanthropic capital to help advance economic and social progress, enabling our community to succeed.”

Many nonprofits are already deploying the bank’s recent round of investments in communities hardest hit by the pandemic or to address social injustice. Like many places across the country, the Sacramento region is showing signs of recovery, but the economic consequences of the pandemic are expected to be felt unevenly through the remainder of 2021, particularly with low-income households, according to the Sacramento Business Review. Additionally, the report found, the skills gap in the area is at its widest margin since 2017, which will have a significant impact on local employers as they manage persistent talent shortages.

Specifically, many of the organizations are using the bank grants to bolster their workforce development programs in some of Greater Sacramento’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. For example, the Asian Community Center is using its grant to provide job readiness and digital skills training for senior residents in low-income areas to help them apply and obtain jobs in digital fields. Recognizing how the pandemic influenced students’ ability to learn and connect with one another, the Sierra College Foundation is reaching hundreds of underserved students across the region to help them return back to the classroom, improve graduation rates and prepare them for their future careers through workforce development programs.

Other local grant recipients are:
· Alchemist CDC
· Boys & Girls Clubs of Stanislaus County Inc
· Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento
· Boys and Girls Clubs of Stockton
· California Restaurant Association Foundation Inc
· Center for Land-Based Learning
· City Year Inc
· Families First Meal Program-Del Paso Foundation
· Meals on Wheels By ACC
· North State Building Industry Foundation
· Ready to Work
· Sacramento Food Bank Services
· Saint John’s Program for Real Change
· Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin & Stanislaus County Inc
· Shelter Providers of Sacramento Inc
· Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project
· St Mary’s Dining Room
· St Vincent De Paul Society Roseville Area Conference Inc
· Wellspace
· Women’s Center-Youth & Family Services
· Women’s Empowerment
· Yolo Food Bank
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This current round of bank grants is part of yearlong philanthropic giving across the region, where last year Bank of America awarded a total of $2.1 million in grants to local nonprofits. Additional background about Bank of America’s Charitable Foundation giving can be found here.