The Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) is pleased to announce that six grants of $10,000 each have been awarded to support housing and housing literacy, economic development/community investment, and financial or cyber literacy in Wisconsin.
“Affordable housing and financial literacy are acute needs for individuals and families in our state and are essential for economic stability,” said Rose Oswald Poels, WBA president and CEO. “We are proud to once again offer this grant opportunity, which showcases the partnership of Wisconsin banks and non-profit organizations to strengthen programming that empowers Wisconsinites to become financially capable, promotes homeownership, and builds wealth that can be passed on to future generations.”
The selected projects include:
- Bank of Prairie du Sac
- Bank of Prairie du Sac plans to work in partnership with 6:8, Inc. to help support the 6:8 Circles program which works to both empower highly motivated low-income participants to permanently move out of poverty and into stability and increase the “poverty IQ” of leaders in business, education, health, philanthropy, volunteerism, public service, and other major sectors of the community in order to motivate strategic collective action to resolve systemic barriers to self-sufficiency.
- Bay Bank, Green Bay, Wis.
- Bay Bank is a stakeholder of a new effort, the Wisconsin Native Homeownership Coalition, which consists of different professionals from Wisconsin’s tribal communities that are engaged in housing related activities. The coalition brings together Bay Bank, two Native CDFI lenders, tribal housing authority executives, and an affordable housing developer to develop tools, resources, and practices that will increase the number of housing units for Native Americans. WHEDA’s tribal liaison is also participating in the Coalition efforts. The grant funds will be used towards the cost of developing a written strategic plan for the Wisconsin Coalition.
- Horicon Bank
- Horicon Bank plans to develop a down payment assistance program to make homeownership more accessible to families. Through a partnership with Acts Housing, Horicon Bank will ensure that homebuyers receive the financial guidance they need throughout the homebuying process.
- PremierBank, Fort Atkinson, Wis.
- PremierBank plans to help expand financial literacy and cybersecurity fraud prevention education materials in Spanish throughout Janesville and surrounding communities in collaboration with Adelante Janesville, a program of Forward Janesville that was formed two years ago to uncover ways to better serve the Latino community, specifically by supporting Latino business owners and entrepreneurs in the Janesville area.
- The Bank of New Glarus
- The Bank of New Glarus has collaborated with St Vincent de Paul of Green County located in Monroe to develop and distribute a microloan program for emergency financial assistance to low-income families for housing related expenses, specifically overdue rent or utilities. The program will also provide financial literacy counseling through the University of Wisconsin Extension. The grant funds will support the operations of the microloan program, providing financial relief and empowerment to community members in need.
- Woodford State Bank, Monroe, Wis.
- Woodford State Bank plans to implement a community-based program to address financial literacy, help prevent fraud, and to better understand the home-buying process thereby empowering individuals to achieve financial stability and homeownership. Specific focus being placed on the Lafayette County in southwest, Wisconsin.
