Bank of America and Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust Partner to Increase Access to Homeownership in Southern Connecticut

Bank of America has announced Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust (BNT) is a 2016 Neighborhood Builder. The nonprofit is being recognized for its work developing affordable housing and its homeownership counseling programs, which in turn, supports the sustainable growth of the Southern Connecticut economy.

Bank of America will honor BNT and other 2016 grant recipients at a celebratory breakfast on December 13th beginning at 8:00am. The bank gave nearly $1 million in grants and community support to nonprofits in the Southern Connecticut region this year. Expected attendees at the celebration breakfast include Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Through Neighborhood Builders (#NeighborhoodBuilders), the bank provides nonprofits with a unique combination of leadership development, $200,000 in flexible funding, a network of peer organizations across the U.S. and the opportunity to access capital in order to expand their impact in the Southern Connecticut community.

“Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust has had a tremendous impact on the Bridgeport community through their development and support of housing options for low-income families,” said Bill Tommins, Southern Connecticut market president at Bank of America. “We’re honored to recognize BNT’s commitment to Bridgeport with this award, which will help them advance their strategic planning efforts, strengthen their infrastructure and enhance their operating capacity and funding opportunities.”

BNT has developed more than 200 units of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families in the Bridgeport community and currently has 48 units under construction and 78 more in the pipeline, representing $32 million in community investment. Between 2009 and 2015, BNT built more than one thousand lead-safe units and provided lead poisoning education to thousands of individuals and families in Bridgeport. The organization also offers homeownership counseling, which has helped more than 1,200 families achieve homeownership and more than 100 avoid foreclosure on their homes. BNT plans to use the $200,000 grant from Bank of America to make key personnel hires in order to increase their impact in the communities they serve.

“We have had tremendous growth over the last ten years, and we are thrilled to receive the Neighborhood Builders Award, which will help us continue to pursue our goal of providing affordable housing and increasing economic security for low- and moderate-income families in Bridgeport,” said Elizabeth Torres, chief executive officer at Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust.

Since 2004, through Neighborhood Builders, Bank of America has helped nonprofits create greater impact in their communities and better prepare for the future by providing the tools and resources they need to develop stronger strategic plans, chart a succession plan, navigate through tough economic times, and enhance their funding opportunities. Since the program’s inception, Bank of America has invested more than $180 million in 900 nonprofit organizations across the country, providing leadership resources to nearly 2,000 nonprofit leaders, and the program has been recognized as the nation’s largest philanthropic investment in nonprofit leadership development.

Neighborhood Builders is a signature demonstration of the bank’s work to address issues fundamental to economic mobility in order to build thriving communities and illustrates how strong cross-sector partnerships and local community leaders can play a meaningful role in positioning communities for success. The awardees are selected by a local market selection committee with representation by local community leaders from diverse sectors.

About Bank of America Environmental, Social and Governance

At Bank of America, our focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors is critical to fulfilling our purpose of helping make people’s financial lives better. Our commitment to growing our business responsibly is embedded in every aspect of our company. It is demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our customers, and the impact we help create around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships across sectors - including community and environmental advocate groups, as well as non-profits – in order to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at www.bankofamerica.com/about and connect with us on Twitter at @BofA_News.