Bank of America Provides Sant La and Carrfour Supportive Housing Funding and Leadership Training to Advance Economic Mobility in Miami
MIAMI – Sant La and Carrfour Supportive Housing have been named as the 2019 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardees for Miami.
The nonprofits were selected for their work in Miami to address issues fundamental to economic mobility, specifically, providing resources such as financial coaching and job placement for the local Haitian community and helping families overcome homelessness by building permanent supportive housing communities, respectively.
As an awardee, each organization receives a $200,000 grant, a year of leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader at the organization, a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and the opportunity to access capital to expand their impact.
Over the past 16 years, Bank of America has invested $240 million in 49 communities through Neighborhood Builders, partnering with more than 1,000 nonprofits and helping more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills.
“As we continue to invest in our community through Neighborhood Builders®, we recognize the growing need to advance leadership in Miami’s nonprofit sector,” said Gene Schaefer, Miami market president for Bank of America. “This program is just one example of how we give communities the power to build cross-sector partnerships and advance economic mobility in a responsible way.”
Sant La is a neighborhood resource center for the Haitian immigrant community that empowers its clients by placing them on the path to self-sufficiency, socioeconomic and political integration.
The organization will use Bank of America’s funds to expand and integrate its financial capabilities services by hiring a financial coach, growing its client base to address the financial vulnerability of ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households throughout the Haitian community and investing in community outreach for the 2020 U.S. Census.
“Sant La is beyond proud to have received this transformative award for a second time,” said Gepsie Metellus, Sant La’s Executive Director. “We are elated by BOA’s recognition of our work to identify promising strategies to uplift and empower South Florida’s Haitian American community; my team and I are excited about the lessons we will learn and share with organizations that seek to create pathways to financial stability for low to moderate income households and/or immigrant populations” she added.
Carrfour Supportive Housing allows families the ability to rebuild their lives and establish roots in a neighborhood.
The organization does this by investing in attractive, high-quality housing developments that elevate the surrounding areas and inspire pride and ownership in the families it serves.
Bank of America’s flexible funding will allow Carrfour to increase its capacity by hiring two additional housing developers to grow the organization’s housing pipeline.
“We are so grateful to Bank of America for their continued commitment to true neighborhood revitalization, said Stephanie Berman-Eisenberg, the president of Carrfour Supportive Housing.” “With this significant investment, Carrfour will be positioned to broaden its impact and develop new affordable housing communities for our most vulnerable neighbors.”
Since 2004 through its Neighborhood Builders program, Bank of America has partnered with 21 nonprofits in Miami. 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.
Examples of the leadership training topics include human capital management, increasing financial sustainability, and storytelling.
Neighborhood Builders is just one example of how Bank of America deploys capital in communities, builds cross-sector partnerships, and promotes socioeconomic progress as part of its approach to responsible growth.
