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JPMorgan Chase Tuesday announced an $8.45 million philanthropic commitment to nonprofit organizations and programs across the city of Baltimore to support economic and community development.
Specifically, the firm’s funding will address residential vacancies to stabilize housing supply and promote access to affordable homeownership; support commercial corridor revitalization; and promote small business growth. This announcement is the latest round of funding as part of the firm’s $20 million five-year commitment to benefit underserved communities across the city.
The philanthropic investments include $6 million to stabilize housing supply and increase access to affordable homeownership. The firm will commit new philanthropic capital to nonprofit organizations addressing housing vacancy in Baltimore, with a specific focus on those investing in neighborhood stabilization efforts, building wealth in underserved communities and increasing the affordable housing supply. Several local organizations working across the city have been invited to apply for this funding and the firm will select recipients working at varying levels of program implementation and capacity in late 2024.
This approach, company officials say, reflects the firm’s strategy to increase housing supply and support access to affordable homeownership, which has been informed by over half a decade of partnership with local organizations and leaders across the city. This new commitment advances three primary objectives: building local capacity, supporting evidence-based policies that enable acquisition and development, and catalyzing capital to drive scale.
It also includes $2.45 million to support small business growth and expansion and commercial corridors revitalization. The firm announced philanthropic capital to support small business growth and expansion, including five separate grants totaling $1.45 million provided to community-based organizations working with small businesses to support technical assistance and access to capital. Grant recipients working directly with entrepreneurs are Innovation Works and Ignite Capital, Revolve Fund, and The Harbor Bank of Maryland.
JPMorgan Chase also provided a planning grant to Maryland Procurement Economy Playbook, an initiative to strategically assess Maryland’s procurement landscape and promote growth for small and diverse firms with a focus on Baltimore.
The firm is also committing an additional $1 million to the Baltimore Civic Fund to support its new “Vacancy to Vibrancy” initiative, with matched funding from the City of Baltimore, to support local business owners and drive inclusive economic growth by empowering social entrepreneurs to successfully secure and transition to commercial spaces in Downtown Baltimore and West Baltimore.
The program will support a fourth cohort of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore BOOST program to move small businesses to Downtown storefronts and the development of a new project led by Innovation Works and Ignite Capital and focused on the West North Avenue corridor and the Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street revitalization.
