Jacksonville, Florida: Wells Fargo Foundation has awarded Beaches Habitat for Humanity with a $15,000 grant. The funds will be used to build an affordable home for a local veteran in Eastern Jacksonville and is part of an $8.1 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International for capacity building and direct mission support to build, renovate and repair more than 350 affordable homes across the United States. The grant is provided through Wells Fargo Builds℠ and part of the Wells Fargo Foundation’s $1 billion philanthropic commitment to create more housing affordability solutions by 2025.

“We’ve had a rich history of working with Beaches Habitat for Humanity to strengthen our neighborhoods through philanthropy and volunteerism,” said Kelly Smith, Wells Fargo’s North Florida Region Bank President. “Safe and stable housing enables people to build upon the rest of their life and, together, we can shift the narrative to help others understand that housing affordability is both an economic and humanitarian crisis that’s taking a toll on millions of people.”

Wells Fargo Builds provides philanthropic financial assistance from the Wells Fargo Foundation to support the construction, renovation, painting or repairing of homes with low-to-moderate income households. In 2019 alone, Wells Fargo employees volunteered more than 1.9 million hours of service to strengthen their communities, including building, repairing and improving 674 homes across the U.S. with several organizations through Wells Fargo Builds.

The grant will support the construction of a new home for retired Army veteran Charlene Edmond. Construction is starting on a single story home for Edmond, to accommodate her physical limitations. The home is part of a duplex in Haywood Estates II, a 12-home neighborhood near the intersection of Mayport Road and AIA.

“This grant will allow us to provide comfortable and affordable housing for Charlene,” said Curtis Ford, President and CEO of Beaches Habitat. “We are blessed by the continuation of our partnership with Wells Fargo and are grateful for their commitment to building affordable housing at the beach for more than a decade.”

Edmond said she is proud to become a homeowner and have a safe space of her own which she will one day leave to her grandchildren.