Funds Designated to Groups Addressing Underserved, Marginalized & Overlooked Communities

First Group of Amplify Fund Grants with More to Come Through Future Funding Rounds

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- M&T Bank today announced the first of a group of Amplify Fund-Connecticut grants totaling $6 million awarded to 44 non-profit organizations across Connecticut. First announced in May 2022, the $25 million fund is aimed at providing unrestricted multi-year support to trusted organizations to enable them to improve the lives of their communities through programmatic, capacity-building or policy-based work.

The creation of the Amplify Fund – which serves Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont – was a result of the merger and conversion between People's United Bank and M&T Bank, which was completed earlier this year, and represents a significant investment in the organizations which serve the communities across M&T's expanded footprint. The grants were awarded based on the responses to proposals submitted by the nonprofits earlier this year.

Amplify Fund grants provide finite, multi-year funding to community-based organizations and intermediaries with a demonstrated commitment to high-need, underserved, or marginalized communities. Priority was given to applicant organizations that most clearly articulated the needs to be addressed, the strategies to be employed in response to those needs, and a plan to demonstrate the effectiveness of those strategies. Additionally, there was a separate category devoted to organizations working to address environmental justice and equity in communities across Connecticut.

RFPs for the next round of grants will be announced at a later date. The work must correspond to documented community need and can include a range of organizational or societal issue areas.

Awarded grants include funding for projects that include but not limited to:

• Helping low-income BIPOC individuals find new career pathways via job training and mentorship programs, and direct support to BIPOC and women owned small businesses to help develop and grow their businesses.
• Funding and expansion of safe and stable mission-driven housing to low-income households, and expansion of physical and mental health services for homeless youth in Connecticut.
• Hiring of additional staff and expansion of organizational capacity across numerous organizations of different types and missions.

"M&T is a community-focused bank, and we are proud to support and stand alongside these impactful organizations to help them do good in the communities which we all value," said Mike Keegan, M&T Bank Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Community Banking. "This first round of Amplify Fund grants being invested in Connecticut is part of a broader commitment to initiatives that are focused on supporting local partners with more capacity to achieve their objectives."

The full list of Connecticut Amplify Fund recipients include:

• Alliance for Community Empowerment
• Arts for Learning CT
• Barnum Museum Foundation, Inc.
• Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders
• Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation (BEDCO)
• Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust, Inc.
• Capital for Change
• Cardinal Shehan Center
• Career Resources, Inc.
• Central Connecticut Coast YMCA
• Community Action Agency for New Haven
• Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts (Shubert Theatre)
• Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP)
• Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
• CT Council for Philanthropy
• CT Students for a Dream
• Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities Inc
• Fairfield County's Community Foundation
• Forge City Works
• Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County
• Hartford Land Bank, Inc
• HEDCO, Inc.
• Housatonic Community College Foundation
• Housing Development Fund, Inc.
• International Hartford Ltd.
• Junior Achievement of Fairfield County
• LifeBridge Community Services, Inc.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation Connecticut
• Make the Road Connecticut
• Mutual Housing Association of Greater Hartford Inc
• Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut, Inc.
• Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern Connecticut (Connecticut Housing Partners)
• Neighborhood Housing Services oOf New Haven, Inc
• Our Piece of the Pie, Inc.
• Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership (RYASAP)
• SCSU Foundation
• Sheldon Oak Central, Inc.
• The Center for Family Justice, Inc.
• The Open Door Shelter
• The San Juan Center
• The WorkPlace
• United Way of Coastal Fairfield County
• Women's Business Development Council

The full list of Amplify Fund Equity and Environment Initiative recipients include:

• Connecticut Green Building Council
• Connecticut Zoological Society, Inc. (DBA Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo)
• Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises, Inc.
• Groundwork Bridgeport
• Save The Sound
• The Trust for Public Land

For more information on the Amplify Fund, please visit www3.mtb.com/homepage/about-us/getting-involved/amplify-fund.

About M&T

M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, provides banking products and services in 12 states across the eastern U.S. from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. Trust-related services are provided in select markets in the U.S. and abroad by M&T's Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank. For more information on M&T Bank, visit www.mtb.com.

Media Contact:
Max Reiss
mreiss1@mtb.com

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