Bank of America announces $1.2 million grants to 54 Dallas-Fort Worth area nonprofits
Bank of America Sept. 18 announced $1.2 million in grants to 54 North Texas nonprofits to advance economic mobility for individuals and families and put them on a path toward success, the bank said in a news release.
The grants focus on needs related to workforce development and education that help individuals chart a path to better economic futures, as well as basic needs fundamental to building lifelong stability.
The grants are part of the nearly $4 million Bank of America invests in North Texas nonprofits each year to support economic mobility through the arts, sponsorships, community development, Student Leaders, Neighborhood Builders and other ongoing initiatives.
Many Dallas-Fort Worth residents have prospered from the region’s significant job and economic growth in recent years, but not everyone has benefited.
According to Measure of America, a project of the Social Sciences Research Council, 105,000 – or 11.4 percent – of young people between the ages of 16-24 are not in school or are unemployed while the region overall is experiencing 3.5 percent unemployment, the news release said.
For other families, meeting the basic needs of obtaining proper nutrition is a challenge. For example, one in four North Texas children is food insecure, according to the Tarrant Area Food Bank.
The announcement said that the local nonprofits receiving funding are connecting youth to first-time jobs, giving young adults alternative pathways to employment and providing second chances to individuals with barriers to help them rebuild careers and lives.
“At Bank of America, we recognize the importance of helping youth and young adults and other individuals with barriers to employment find meaningful opportunities to gain skills, education and jobs,” Mike Pavell, Bank of America’s Fort Worth Market President, said in the news release.
“That’s why we’ve formed partnerships with nonprofits like The Ladder Alliance that are providing workforce training toward a pathway to employment and second chances to rebuilding careers and lives,” he said.
The Ladder Alliance mission provides women victims of domestic violence and low-income women the tools to lead self-reliant, independent and successful lives.
“Through our partnership with Bank of America, we’ll deepen our assistance to women in need of secure employment that leads to a road to self-reliance, independence and a successful life,” said Bliss Coulter, Executive Director of The Ladder Alliance.
Among those receiving grants:
Community Enrichment Center Inc.
Cristo Rey Fort Worth Study Program Inc.
Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail
Texas Christian University
The Ladder Alliance Inc.
Women’s Center of Tarrant County Inc.
ACH Child and Family Services
Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth
Community Food Bank
Meals-on-Wheels of Tarrant County
Pathfinders AKA Family Pathfinders
Presbyterian Night Shelter of Tarrant County
Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth Inc.
Safehaven of Tarrant County
Sixty and Better Inc.
Tarrant County College Foundation
The Arlington Life Shelter
WI Cook Foundation Inc.
United Way
The grants in North Texas build on the more than $17 million in grants that the Bank of America Charitable Foundation has provided to organizations addressing workforce development and basic needs since 2014. Philanthropic and volunteer investments play a key role in this effort to build thriving communities.
– FWBP Staff