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Chase donates $780,000+ to help youth, workers in 2 Detroit neighborhoods


WEBWIRE

Detroit.-Striving to help Detroit’s youth and workforce succeed in the 21st century, Chase this month is making more than $780,000 in grants to 10 non-profit groups in two Detroit neighborhoods.

The Chase grants will support educational, community development and arts and culture programs mostly in Detroit’s North End and Southwest neighborhoods.

“Chase can make the biggest difference in Detroit by focusing our philanthropic efforts in two neighborhoods-the North End and Southwest-and working closely with key organizations and community leaders there,” said Sarah McClelland, president of Chase in Michigan. “We have been serving both neighborhoods with bank branches since 1933, so we know both their challenges and their potential.”

This month, Chase will donate 100 handheld computers to help kindergartners and first- graders improve their math and language skills at Academy of the Americas, a public school in Southwest Detroit.

Developed by Chicago-based nonprofit Innovations For Learning, the handheld Teachermate computers disguise math and English and Spanish reading drills by offering engaging activities, cartoon characters and colorful graphics. The grant also covers teacher training and eight personal computers for the participating classrooms.

“Students love these because they are fun to use. Teachers love them because they are effective in assigning customized exercises and creating reports to track individual students’ progress,” McClelland said. “The Teachermate adjusts if a student has trouble with a task so teachers can see easily who needs help in which areas.”

Chase also will grant $200,000 to Detroit Renaissance for the Detroit Creative Business Accelerator -- one of its Road to Renaissance projects -- and $150,000 to Goodwill Industries for workforce development for unemployed young men in Detroit’s North End.

“Our community needs to expand its range of employers and industries and our workers need to learn new and expanded skills to help those companies - and their own families - thrive,” McClelland said.

Other Detroit nonprofits receiving funding from Chase are:

* Center for Empowerment and Economic Development: Provides small business support services such as training and mentoring in the North End and Southwest Detroit


* Southwest Housing Solutions: Adds a full-time and two part-time counselors for foreclosure mitigation programs and evening and weekend counseling hours, reaching more than 300 additional clients annually


* WARM Training Center: Trains homeowners and community development corporations on cost-effective, energy-efficient home renovations and simple repairs


* Youthville Detroit: Tutors 11- to 18-year-olds in math and literacy in the North End, targeting each individual’s subject weaknesses following computer-based skills assessment


* Detroit Hispanic Development Corp.: Provides new computers and graphic arts equipment to support its Urban Arts Academy, which trains Southwest Detroit teens in arts, entrepreneurial and leadership skills.


* Vanguard Community Development Corporation: Prepares students for the ACT college exam and provides science tutoring at the all-girls Detroit International Academy, a public school in the North End, and a separate after-school youth arts entrepreneurship program in the North End


* Southwest Solutions: Trains low-income, Spanish-speaking families with young children to become literate in English during the day at the Academy of the Americas and evenings at several Southwest Detroit locations

The JPMorgan Chase Foundation supports non-profit organizations and community programs in Michigan and around the world.



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