Minneapolis Receives $4 Million in JPMorgan Chase’s AdvancingCities Challenge as Bank Showcases New, Innovative Branch in Ventura Village

JPMorgan Chase today announced Minneapolis is one of seven winning cities in its AdvancingCities Challenge, part of the firm’s $500 million, five-year initiative to drive inclusive recovery and create greater economic opportunity in cities. A collaborative of five organizations will receive $4 million in philanthropic support to help long-time Minneapolis residents become first-time homebuyers and landlords of small, multi-family buildings, increasing homeownership and community wealth. The announcement was made during a ribbon cutting ceremony for Chase’s new branch in the Ventura Village neighborhood.

The AdvancingCities Challenge supports collaborative and holistic solutions that tackle pressing needs and systemic challenges at the neighborhood and city levels to create more access to capital and opportunity. This year, the competition attracted more than 150 proposals from 78 communities across 35 states and territories. Minneapolis is the first winner to be announced.

The winning collaborative will help strengthen recovery efforts in Minneapolis and address the needs of Black, Latinx, immigrant and indigenous communities, which have been disproportionately impacted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

To address the large racial disparities in homeownership and wealth in Minneapolis, The Family Housing Fund (FHFund) partnered with the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, Land Bank Twin Cities, Inc., Hope Community, Inc. and Minnesota Home Ownership Center to execute this effort.

“Businesses have a responsibility to help solve major challenges that their customers and communities face. From our new branch footprint to our AdvancingCities commitment, JPMorgan Chase is proud to support the Minneapolis community and invest in neighborhoods that have often struggled with equal access to opportunity,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co. “Collaboration among business, nonprofits, civic and community leaders is the key to breaking down barriers of economic mobility and driving an economy that creates and sustains opportunity for all people.”

With the support from JPMorgan Chase, the collaborative will acquire, rehab and develop 2-4 unit multi-family buildings to increase the affordable housing supply, launch innovative financing tools, including a new mortgage product, for first-time home buyers, and deploy a suite of training to first-time home buyers and landlords. These efforts will be concentrated in the seven “cultural districts” that serve a majority Black, Latinx, immigrant and indigenous population. This initiative will serve as a model that can be scaled nationally to increase affordable housing and homeownership while reducing the racial wealth divide.

“This critical investment represents not only a timely boost to our affordable housing work, but will also help prioritize our Black, Latinx, immigrant and indigenous communities’ wealth building opportunities,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “We can’t let the pandemic shake our commitment to the idea that housing is a right – and it hasn’t. With local government budgets severely hamstrung, we need all the help we can get right now. I want to thank JPMorgan Chase for recognizing that funding affordable housing is the right thing to do, for both our community and our businesses.”

Over the course of the three-year philanthropic commitment, the collaborative will aim to create and preserve 220 affordable housing units, placing 220 residents into affordable housing, provide 310 prospective homebuyers with landlord training and convert 110 long-time residents into landlords, helping them build wealth. Each resident who purchases a 2-4 unit building is expected see their wealth increase by an average of $300,000 over 15 years.

“Overcoming our significant disparities will take intentional and collaborative action, including meaningful opportunities to build wealth,” said Ellen Sahli, President of the Family Housing Fund. “Our strategy sets households on a path to both homeownership and generational wealth accumulation. We are tremendously grateful to JPMorgan Chase for believing in our vision and making this significant first investment in our approach.”

The new Chase branch is located in one of Minneapolis’ seven “cultural districts”—the Ventura Village neighborhood— at 1100 E. Franklin Ave. This is Chase’s fourth branch in the Twin Cities metro area, but is the first to feature an enhanced format to help address the needs of underserved neighborhoods. It’s the second of its kind among Chase’s 4,900 branches nationwide.

The official ribbon cutting ceremony was held today where attendees included several of the firm’s senior leaders, branch team, and community leaders and partners. JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and Chase Consumer Banking CEO Thasunda Duckett addressed the importance of investing in this community and shared the vision for the unique role this branch can play in providing equitable access for Black, Latinx, immigrant and indigenous communities.

As the community rebuilds in the wake of the unrest following George Floyd’s killing and the economic challenges tied to the pandemic, the branch will serve as a neighborhood resource. It will also serve small businesses and individuals and provide tools and resources like programs to support financial health, educational workshops and growth support for entrepreneurs. Chase’s new full-time Community Manager will work with the community and businesses to increase awareness of available resources and support and connect them with financial health tools, products and services.

Today’s announcement is a continuation of JPMorgan Chase’s philanthropic efforts across the world. JPMorgan Chase recently announced more than $1.75 million in philanthropic commitments to organizations in the Twin Cities area to support local minority business owners and non-profits.

About AdvancingCities

AdvancingCities is a $500 million initiative that combines the firm’s lending capital, philanthropic capital and expertise to make investments in cities. The program consists of two key features, the AdvancingCities Challenge and large-scale investments in cities.

AdvancingCities Challenge proposals were required to focus on the strategic drivers of inclusive growth within JPMorgan Chase’s Model for Impact: jobs and skills, small business, neighborhood development and financial health, and build on the firm’s 7 Traits for AdvancingCities.

The 2020 AdvancingCities Challenge leveraged lessons learned from six years of hosting the PRO Neighborhoods competition and the first year of the AdvancingCities Challenge, continuing to emphasize the importance of collaboration, strong leadership, and bold and innovative approaches to help ensure that access to capital and opportunity is more widely shared by diverse communities. This year’s combined challenge sourced solutions that embodied three key factors:

• A powerful vision for the future shaped by deep community engagement and a shared understanding of goals and priorities to ensure alignment across partners;
• Strong leadership and collaboration among a diverse set of actors with unique authority and resources to drive sustainable change; and
• Innovative approaches that are data-driven and evidence-based and that move beyond “business as usual” to change the trajectory of communities that are currently being left behind.

The winning AdvancingCities Challenge initiatives will have access to a wide array of JPMorgan Chase resources, including data and research, employee expertise, and global network.

To learn more about AdvancingCities visit www.jpmorganchase.com/advancingcities.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.2 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of customers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

About Family Housing Fund

Established in 1980, the Family Housing Fund (FHFund) vision is that all families have a home they can afford and a place from which they prosper and contribute to their communities. FHFund supports the Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the Metropolitan Council, and Minnesota Housing in their efforts to meet the region’s affordable housing needs. Originally created by the McKnight Foundation and the Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, FHFund serves the entire Twin Cities seven county metropolitan area by increasing housing supply, expanding opportunities, and activating more housing champions. 

Chase media contact:                                                   
Brian Hanover
brian.s.hanover@chase.com