OREANDA-NEWS. April 10, 2015. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), today announced grants totaling \\$500,000 to eight nonprofits committed to neighborhood revitalization – including homeless prevention programs for veterans and their families – through the Wells Fargo Kansas City NeighborhoodLIFT program.

The local grant recipients were selected in close collaboration with Mayor Sly James and the city’s Neighborhood and Housing Services Department to help address key local initiatives in the Kansas City, Mo. community including homelessness prevention programs for veterans and their families.

“I know support from the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT program will make a difference for Kansas City,” Mayor James said. “My hope is that projects and programs funded by these grants will help Kansas City be known as the community that makes sure that homeless veterans and all the homeless get the shelter and services they need and deserve.”

The combined \\$500,000 in grants is part of the Wells Fargo Kansas City NeighborhoodLIFT program that invested a total of \\$6.65 million to help boost homeownership in the community. The program is also helping create 300 Kansas City homeowners with the help of a NeighborhoodLIFT program \\$15,000 down payment assistance grant after completing homebuyer education.

“We’re proud to do our part to help Kansas City neighborhoods,” said Kirk Kellner, Wells Fargo regional president. “We believe these nonprofits are doing exceptional work in the community and these funds will add up to make a big impact for the Kansas City community.”

The following Kansas City nonprofits are receiving the grants:

  • Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph -- \\$50,000 to support economic development for the nonprofit’s homeless and training program.
  • Guadalupe Centers Inc. -- \\$35,000 for transitional housing and family assistance.
  • Kansas Children’s Service League -- \\$20,000 to support at-risk youth programs.
  • ReEngage -- \\$10,000 to support the agency’s workforce development program.
  • ReStart -- \\$250,000 in support of new construction that will create 33 units of permanent housing for low-income families.
  • Sheffield Place -- \\$35,000 in support of a housing redevelopment project to serve homeless mothers and children.
  • Women’s Employment Network -- \\$20,000 in support of the agency’s workforce development program.
  • Greater Kansas City Housing Information Center -- \\$80,000 in support of housing counseling and foreclosure prevention programs.

In Kansas City, the \\$15,000 down payment assistance grants were administered by Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City and awarded to eligible homebuyers with annual incomes that do not exceed 120 percent of the Kansas City, Mo. area median income – which is about \\$83,900 for a family of four. Since 2012, with a combined \\$242 million investment (\\$6.65 million in Kansas City) by Wells Fargo, LIFT programs have been introduced to 32 communities deeply affected by the housing crisis. The program has created more than 9,100 homeowners (about 300 in Kansas City), with the help of down payment assistance and homebuyer education. A video about the NeighborhoodLIFT program is posted on the Wells Fargo YouTube Channel‡. Wells Fargo collaborated with the Wells Fargo Foundation, the City of Kansas City, Mo., NeighborWorks America and its local affiliate, Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City, to implement the program.