JPMorgan Chase – Innovative Strategies for Revitalizing Communities
Connecting Opportunities
JPMorgan Chase recognizes that thriving neighborhoods are critical to the long-term economic success of individuals, communities and cities.
At a time when economic growth is often directed toward reviving commercial corridors and downtowns, many neighborhoods, families and small business owners are being left behind. As several key barriers to economic mobility are rooted in neighborhood conditions, cities need tailored, comprehensive strategies for economic growth that ensure opportunities to prosper are extended to distressed neighborhoods and the families that live there.
Driven by Data
Neighborhood demographics are changing rapidly. Armed with high-quality data about land use, housing trends and shifting demographics, communities can better understand the most urgent problems and create targeted solutions, as well as share common challenges and learnings across cities. PRO Neighborhoods supports research to understand the implications of demographic shifts and to help cities become smarter about what strategies will work best and where to apply local support.
Innovative Financing for Affordable Housing
Available and affordable housing is fundamental to healthy communities. As public subsidies for housing decline, there is a critical need to identify new and innovative financial tools to help make affordable housing available and connected to resources that drive economic mobility. PRO Neighborhoods is providing critical seed capital to test new models that will enable our partners to acquire, refurbish and provide affordable housing where it is needed most.
Collaborative Partnerships with Community Development Financial Institutions
PRO Neighborhoods brings Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) together to jump-start community and economic revitalization in neighborhoods challenged by blight or gentrification. The initiative includes an annual competition among CDFIs to foster collaboration and investment in areas that help neighborhoods thrive and grow, such as small businesses, health and education facilities, retail centers and essential services. Participating CDFIs leverage grant funding with the goal of scaling the most promising and sustainable approaches.
JPMorgan Chase is investing in partnerships around the country that are connecting neighborhoods and families to economic opportunity.
Drawing on insights from our pilot programs and our work in cities, including our $150 million commitment to Detroit’s recovery, we are helping to create new and flexible approaches to ensure vulnerable neighborhoods have the tools and resources they need to grow and thrive.
A Proven Model
JPMorgan Chase launched a $33 million pilot program in 2014 to support innovative strategies developed by local organizations that deliver much needed economic resources and social services to the most vulnerable neighborhoods in cities across the United States.
According to an impact assessment by the Harvard Joint Center on Housing Studies, our initial $33 million investment allowed 26 CDFIs to make over 1,700 loans totaling $283 million, including:
350 housing loans to preserve and develop 2,500 units of affordable housing
More than 400 loans to small businesses
Supporting nearly 2,500 existing jobs and helping create more than 2,600 new ones
The success of the 2014 pilot program serves as the foundation of the PRO Neighborhoods CDFI Collaborative competition to help cities cultivate inclusive growth strategies that connect families, entrepreneurs and distressed communities to greater economic opportunities.
Investing in Neighborhoods Across America
JPMorgan Chase is investing in partnerships around the country that are connecting neighborhoods and families to economic opportunity.
PRO Neighborhoods is investing in partnerships around the country that are working to rebuild blighted communities, develop new and flexible funding sources for underserved small business owners, create affordable housing so that workers can live near work and provide sustainable alternatives to payday lending.
