On April 24, 2017, M&T Bank awarded $1,000,000 in funding to four organizations aimed at revitalizing New Jersey, part of the bank’s ongoing commitment to the growth and development of neighborhoods across the Garden State.
The contributions were made through the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program (NRTC), a state-wide initiative offering businesses investing in the revitalization of eligible low- and moderate-income neighborhoods tax credits against various state taxes.
Four non-profit organizations throughout New Jersey were chosen by the bank’s regional community banking leadership team to receive significant NRTC funding to further revitalization projects in their regions.
“We are taking another step in our ongoing investment in New Jersey by participating in the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program, which builds on our 160-year legacy of community-focused banking and corporate citizenship,” said M&T Bank Area Executive Paula Mandell. “We look forward to partnering with these four exceptional organizations in their work to build strong communities as they transform neighborhoods throughout the Garden State.”
“This is one of the State’s most successful economic investment programs,” says Staci Berger, president and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, which helped create the program in 2002. “It deploys millions of dollars into NJ’s most distressed communities, bringing innovation and hope to residents. Thanks to corporate partners like M&T Bank, our nonprofit members are able to enhance the communities they serve. The Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program is instrumental to boosting our economy and allows us to build a thriving New Jersey.”
New Jersey organizations receiving Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit funding from M&T Bank include:
- Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corporation (GSECDC): Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corporation develops affordable housing in Jersey City. The non-profit will receive $400,000 from M&T Bank to help support its “I Love Greenville Project,” which includes the development of affordable housing, training and technical assistance for small businesses, and educational afterschool programs for over 120 children.
- New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC): New Jersey Community Development Corporation, a non-profit agency focused on education, youth development, housing, and community building initiatives throughout Patterson, New Jersey, will receive $200,000 from M&T Bank. The funding will be directed towards the acquisition and renovation of the Great Falls Education and Training Center, in continuation of the Great Falls Promise Neighborhood Initiative, which provides educational, job training, and microenterprise development services to neighborhood residents in Northern New Jersey.
- Unity Square, Diocese of Metuchen: Unity Square is a community organizing and social justice initiative of the Diocese of Metuchen’s Catholic Charities that works to empower community members to make changes throughout residential neighborhoods of New Brunswick, New Jersey. M&T Bank will allocate $200,000 to help Unity Square rehabilitate distressed housing, strengthen its Housing Resource Center, and host programs at the Unity Square Community Center that offer housing counseling and financial literacy programs for homebuyers in Central New Jersey.
- Saint Joseph’s Carpenter Society (SJCS): Saint Joseph’s Carpenter Society helps families improve their quality of life through homeownership in Camden, New Jersey. The organization will receive $200,000 in funding from M&T Bank to help build and renovate affordable housing units, provide grants to eligible homeowners in need of addressing critical health and safety issues, as well as plant and maintain over 700 trees throughout East Camden, New Jersey.
Community events to celebrate milestones for the organizations the bank supported through the NRTC program will take place throughout 2017.