New Community Center branch to expand access to financial health tools and resources
JPMorgan Chase leaders and community partners cut the ribbon on a new Community Center branch in the Grand Concourse neighborhood of the Bronx. This branch, the second of its kind in the city, is built to expand access to banking, tools and advice to help customers get on a path to financial health and resilience.
The Grand Concourse Community Center branch features a team of local financial health experts focused on community engagement, mentorship and advice. The location looks and feels different from a “typical” bank – it combines a modern design, spacious layout, and the latest banking technology, reflecting how customers engage with Chase today. This branch also features art inspired by local students from the Michael Ford Art Camp, a large multipurpose room which can be used to host free financial health workshops, or pop-up shops for small business clients, and complimentary Wi-Fi for community groups and individuals on site.
“Access to financial advice and banking services is essential for any community to thrive and our Community Center Branches are at the center of lifting up communities by creating opportunities for growth,” said JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. “When we invest in communities, we become a trusted partner in that journey. Helping more people achieve their financial dreams is great for the Bronx, New York City and for our company.”
Chase Community Centers Combine Banking and Financial Education
Chase opened its first Community Center branch in Harlem in 2019 as part of an overall effort to build stronger ties to the community and provide banking services and financial education to people who might not otherwise have access to them. Since then, Chase has opened 16 additional Community Centers across the country, 14 of which were a part of the firm’s Racial Equity Commitment to reach underserved communities. In addition to the Harlem and Bronx locations, Chase plans to open a Community Center in Brooklyn by the end of the year. These Community Centers are part of Chase’s 300 community-inspired branch network in underserved areas.
“Far too often, customers are intimidated when they visit a bank. They don’t know where to start or who to approach when they have a question. We want to change that,” said Diedra Porche, head of Chase Community and Business Development. “Our new Community Centers are open, welcoming and intentionally designed to build stronger ties to the community and provide banking services and financial education to people who might not otherwise have access to them.”
Chase Home Lending is offering a $7,500 homebuyer grant to help cover closing or down payment costs for eligible homebuyers purchasing a home in select, underserved communities across the nation. This benefit is currently available in more than 1,400 neighborhoods in the New York City metro area, including the Bronx.
Chase Community Managers Focus on Solutions
Each Community Center has a Community Manager on site. Working closely with neighborhood leaders and businesses, they focus on understanding the challenges each community faces and then designing programs to address those challenges though a variety of ways, including:
- Hosting financial health workshops on topics such as budgeting, credit and homeownership, for both individuals and groups
- Offering complimentary one-on-one mentorship support to help local entrepreneurs grow, start or expand their small business
Community Center branch programming is open to Chase customers and non-customers alike.
In addition, Chase is hiring Community Private Client Advisors, a new role created to help people who want to invest, but don’t know where to begin. Community Private Client Advisors work closely with Community Managers to host complimentary workshops focused on helping current and prospective clients understand the fundamentals of investing.
The new Community Center represents an investment of $5 million. To build this location, Chase contracted Excel Construction, a local minority-owned construction firm. Construction is already underway in Brooklyn and the firm expects to open the branch by end of the year.
Powering New York City’s economy for more than 200 years
The Community Center investment is just one of the many ways JPMorgan Chase is helping expand access to opportunity for more New Yorkers.
The firm recently celebrated the topping out of its 1,388-foot, state-of-the-art headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The 60-story building will be home to 14,000 employees when it opens in 2025. The firm is also making a significant investment to help improve the city’s infrastructure and transit system and working closely with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
JPMorgan Chase serves New York City consumers and small businesses through more than 290 Chase branches across all five boroughs, with nearly 40 of those branches offering complimentary workshops, skills training and support for small businesses. The firm has invested over $4.8 billion in community development and financed more than 58,000 affordable homes in New York City.
Community Impact
In addition to making an impact through its core business, the firm partners with local leaders and organizations to scale solutions and help drive sustainable change.
As an example, Chase has partnered with the Hip Hop Museum to expand access to financial health tools, resources and education in underserved neighborhoods across the country. This joint initiative will create community events – in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York – focused on providing financial health education, featuring a hip hop touring exhibit, iconic artists, and professional athletes. Chase is also supporting the creation of a new Hip Hop Museum at Bronx Point in the South Bronx, and will host financial health programming at the museum when it opens in 2025.
In addition, the firm recently committed $450,000 to BronxWorks, a nonprofit organization that has served Bronx residents for decades, to help increase access to affordable housing in the borough. Through this partnership, Chase will support a rapid re-housing pilot program — Solutions to End Homelessness Program (STEHP) — which will provide affordable, safe homes for individuals and families who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness due to domestic violence. The program will also enable homeowners in the Bronx to receive stable income and grow generational wealth.
About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading financial services firm based in the United States with assets of $4.1 trillion and operations worldwide. Chase serves more than 82 million consumers and 6.4 million small businesses, with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. Customers can choose how and where they want to bank: More than 4,800 branches in 48 states and the District of Columbia, more than 15,000 ATMs, mobile, online and by phone. For more information, go to chase.com.
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