Santander Bank Contributes Nearly $2.9 Million To 109 Non-Profit Organizations

BOSTON, July 18, 2017

"Affordable housing is critical for families, children and neighborhoods to thrive and we are pleased to support a number of strong community-based organizations with grant funding" said Scott Powell, Santander Bank CEO. "In addition to funding our non-profit partners, our colleagues have led credit and home ownership workshops and volunteered more than 8,900 hours this year to give back in the communities throughout the Bank's footprint where we live and work." 

Santander awards grants three times a year- Spring, Summer and Fall -through the Santander Bank Charitable Contributions Program, which invests in programs serving low-income individuals and communities. In addition to supporting affordable housing and financial education programs, grants from this cycle will also assist organizations that provide community services, economic and small business development and neighborhood revitalization.

Affordable housing grant recipients from around the Bank's footprint include:

• New York Mortgage Coalition - $50,000 to support the pre-purchase homeownership program and 11 housing counseling agencies, providing training, certification, compliance, data reporting, and capacity building.
• New Hampshire Community Loan Fund - $50,000 to support one-on-one credit counseling, pre-approvals, and post-purchase troubleshooting for people in need of affordable housing assistance in four target counties.
• United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley - $75,000 to fund the first-in-the-nation 'Pay for Success' initiative focused on chronic homelessness. This funding supports mental health and counseling services and provides at least 500 units of permanent supportive housing for up to 800 individuals over six years.

Other large grants awarded during this funding cycle to support entrepreneurship training as a learning and wealth-building tool include:

• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) - $210,000 to support entrepreneurial education programming for the Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge where middle and high school students compete for prize money for the best small business plan.
• Esperanza - $100,000 to support neighborhood-based small business development in commercial corridors in Hunting Park, a primarily Latino neighborhood in North Philadelphia.
• Rutgers University Center for Urban Entrepreneurship - $50,000 to support small business technical assistance services for up to 30 African-American and Latino entrepreneurs operating retail stores or restaurants in New Jersey's Essex and Hudson counties and assisting them with the tools and resources they need to grow.
• ASSETS Lancaster - $20,000 to support programs that assist low-income entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania with credit-building microloans, business education, networking and consultation.

Non-profit organizations interested in applying for a grant can access Santander's grant application guidelines by visiting the Santander Charitable Contributions Program or sending questions to santandercharitablecont@santander.us. Applications for the final rounds of grants in 2017 are due on September 8 and will be awarded in November.