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September 18, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE EDITION Page 9 Special Business Edition MBE 2019 Wells Fargo Announces $1 Billion Affordable Housing Commitment By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent T he lack of affordable housing has caught the attention of Wells Fargo and the banking giant isn’t tak- ing it lightly and has un- veiled an ambitious plan to tackle the problem. Candy Moore, the se- nior vice president and manager of Wells Fargo’s Community Relations and Southeast Commu- nity Development, told NNPA Newswire that the company will invest $1 billion over the next five years from its business and foundation to help make housing more af- fordable. “We will address three key issues in under- served communities that have been plagued by the lack of affordable hous- ing – housing affordabil- ity, financial health and small business growth,” said Moore. “Charitable giving has always been a part of our history,” Moore said. “And, we feel we should be doing even more to address the systematic changes in affordable housing and uncover new ways to increase the availability and sus- tainability of affordable housing,” she said. Moore noted that if one took the available af- fordable housing units in Washington, D.C., Phil- adelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta, it would still fall far short of meeting cur- rent housing demands. “We want to continue to help the underserved reach their full potential with the support we’re offering through our philanthropic efforts,” Moore said. The $1 billion pledge is part of a larger effort for the bank to overhaul its philanthropic strategy, Moore said. As part of their com- mitment, Wells Fargo aims to donate two per- cent of its after-tax prof- its to corporate philan- thropy concentrating on housing affordability, small business growth and financial health, she said. “ We want to contin- ue to help the un- derserved reach their full poten- tial During a June pre- sentation to the NNPA’s member publishers, Moore shared a video that underscored the im- portance of Wells Far- go’s new initiative and why it’s vital to people of color and others in un- derserved communities. The video presentation highlighted the Parkway Overlook Apartments in Washington, D.C. whose residents were unexpect- edly forced to relocate when the development closed in 2008. As a result of the efforts of two former residents who fought hard for the community, working to- gether with Wells Fargo and the District of Co- lumbia, the apartments are being redeveloped a decade later. “I feel like a mother who watched her trou- bled child in school fi- nally graduate from high school,” said Rufaro Jen- kins, one of the residents who is now a homeown- er. “I used to tell them in meetings that Parkway Overlook was one of my children. Mothers pro- tect their children, and I was going to protect Parkway Overlook,” Jen- kins said in the video presentation. After a 10-year pro- cess to secure approval and funding to rebuild the community, the ren- ovations to Parkway Overlook are currently underway, and construc- tion is expected to be completed this year, pro- viding 220 apartments of affordable housing for families in Ward 8, which is considered one of DC’s poorest areas. While Jenkins and for- mer resident and fellow Parkway Overlook Ten- ants Association mem- ber Cynthia Eaglin are happy about the redevel- opment, it’s been a long journey, they said in the video. Fed cont’d from pg 4 conflict, which is fundamentally over Beijing’s aggressive drive to supplant America’s technological dominance. Balanced against a possible truce in the trade war are events that could un- dercut the economy, from a strike at General Motors to the attack that has temporarily reduced Saudi Arabia’s oil production. The Trump administra- tion says Iran is behind the attack, rais- ing already high U.S.-Iran tensions. So far, most economists say the tem- porary loss of Saudi production won’t end up hurting the U.S. economy, pri- marily because there remains plenty of global supply. “Higher oil prices are not the big economic deal that they have been in decades past,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “I sus- pect the Fed will look through the Sau- di attack and will stick to their script of delivering a rate cut this week.” On Wednesday, in addition to an- nouncing its decision on rates, the Fed’s policymakers will update their forecasts for economic growth, unem- ployment, inflation and interest rates over the next three years. Powell will also hold a news conference. The case for a rate cut is by no means overwhelming. The job market is es- sentially healthy, and wages are rising. Last week, the government reported that retail sales rose in August. An in- dex of consumer sentiment produced by the University of Michigan has re- bounded. In addition, inflation, which has run chronically below the Fed’s 2% target rate for years, may be picking up. The government said core consumer pric- es, excluding the volatile sectors of en- ergy and food, rose 2.4% over the past 12 months — the fastest such pace in more than a year. If the Fed’s policymakers conclude that inflation will sustain a faster pace, it might give them pause about cutting rates much further. Still, the course of the trade war, along with other unknowns like the outcome of Brexit, will likely be the biggest fac- tor in the Fed’s decision-making. “They have to react to policies that can change with the speed of a tweet,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting firm Grant Thornton. On Monday, Trump linked the oil attack and the Fed’s rate decision, say- ing that after “the oil hit,” the economy needs “Big Interest Rate Drop, Stimu- lus!” But some analysts think the Fed might react to Trump’s rising demands for steep rate cuts by making explicitly clear that it’s keeping its focus on the economy. Author David Jones said he expects the Fed’s message to echo the one Pow- ell sounded this month. Cynthia Eaglin and Rufaro Jenkins in front of their former home at Parkway Overlook Apartments in Washington, D.C. The two have worked with Washington Inter- faith Network – or WIN, a grassroots organiza- tion that brings citizens and residents together to develop solutions for communities — in this case, coming up with a strategy, bringing for- mer residents together, and meeting with local leaders, according to the video. The biggest hurdle, though, was getting funding to redevelop Parkway Overlook, said Jennifer Knox, lead orga- nizer for WIN. In 2014, Mayor Muriel Bowser, then chairwom- an of the city council’s Committee on Economic Development, brokered a deal with the D.C. Hous- ing Finance Agency and District of Columbia Housing Authority to take control of the prop- erty and finish the ren- ovations, said Merrick Malone, director of the Office of Capital Pro- grams for the District of Columbia Housing Au- thority. Ultimately, Wells Far- go provided the con- struction loan and equity for the project develop- ment, D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development provided $20.1 million in financing toward the project, and the D.C. Housing Finance Agency provided bond financing in the amount of about $38 million and low-income housing tax credits. “We will need to work with you,” Moore told NNPA publishers. “We will need to work with civic leaders, local gov- ernments, and residents to address the full spec- trum of housing afford- ability,” she said. To learn more about the Wells Fargo initia- tive and for the full Park- way Overlook story, click here.