The Republic Services Charitable Foundation has awarded grants totaling $1 million to eight local affiliates of NeighborWorks America for revitalization projects benefiting small businesses that have suffered a downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants are part of the Company’s previously announced $3 million Committed to Serve pledge to support locally owned businesses that are the cornerstone of America’s communities.
“Investing in the diverse communities where we live and work is important to Republic Services, so supporting local small businesses, including minority-owned businesses, is a natural extension of our ongoing neighborhood revitalization efforts and our ongoing commitment to inclusion and diversity,” said Catharine Ellingsen, president of the Republic Services Charitable Foundation and executive vice president of Republic Services. “We are proud to partner with NeighborWorks America and its affiliates to support their critical work in neighborhoods across the nation, which is needed more than ever in these challenging times.”
The NeighborWorks projects will benefit 56 locally owned small businesses, 98 percent of which are minority-owned. Projects will target businesses in need of repair, renovation or support to stay in business and thrive following the pandemic. Examples include exterior renovations and e-commerce upgrades to a restaurant, café and store in an immigrant neighborhood of Seattle; improvements to a community kitchen and eatery in Atlanta to meet pandemic-related health requirements; and critical repairs to nine small businesses along a corridor in Phoenix.
“NeighborWorks America is dedicated to helping families achieve their dreams of homeownership in safe, sustainable communities, and helping communities thrive through business and job opportunities is a vital part to our progress,” said NeighborWorks America President and CEO Marietta Rodriguez. “The focus of these grants is monumentally important in continuing our support of minority-owned businesses and working to reduce the existing wealth gap between Black and White Americans. We are grateful to the Republic Services Charitable Foundation for this funding and the opportunity to positively impact communities during such stressful times.”
The grants will support projects from the following affiliates:
- Aeon, Minneapolis
- Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership
- Beyond Housing, St. Louis
- Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa
- Famicos Foundation, Cleveland
- Homesight, Seattle
- The Neighborhood Developers, Boston
- Trellis, Phoenix
NeighborWorks America, Rebuilding Together and Habitat for Humanity International are each receiving $1 million in funding through Republic’s Committed to Serve initiative. Launched this spring, Committed to Serve is a $20 million initiative that also included a $6 million investment in local restaurants for meals for the Company’s frontline essential workers and $11 million in gift cards for employees to spend in their local economies. In total, the Committed to Serve projects will support 135 small businesses in 25 markets across the country. These efforts support Republic Services’ long-term sustainability goal to positively impact 20 million people through charitable giving by 2030.