Press Release

Habitat for Humanity of Craven County receives Wells Fargo Builds Grant

Habitat for Humanity of Craven County will use funds to support the build at 2803 Aycock Ave. for the Jenkins family.

New Bern, NC – Habitat for Humanity of Craven County today announced a grant of $15,000 from Wells Fargo to support the affiliate’s current build in New Bern.  Habitat for Humanity of Craven County and Wells Fargo volunteers (Well Fargo’s Team Member Volunteer Program -TMVP) will commit several hours on the build to create more sustainable affordable housing in North Carolina.

“We are so pleased to have the ongoing support from Wells Fargo Builds in Craven County“ said Mike Williams, Executive Director of the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. “This team of volunteers will be working on Habitat home #76 on Aycock Ave. in the Pembroke community and we certainly appreciate their commitment.”

Construction began during Women Build week in March 2022 with over 80 women participating in the build. Kristy Fercho, head of Home Lending at Wells Fargo, expressed “The racial homeownership gap is at its widest levels in history. There’s an opportunity for the industry to come together and help make that dream more equitable for all. Lenders, the administration, and nonprofits must all work together to address these issues and bring real solutions to the table.” (stories.wf.com)

About Habitat for Humanity of Craven County

Habitat for Humanity of Craven County builds modest income single-family homes in Craven County and has been actively addressing the affordable housing crisis since 1989. Families and individuals in need of a hand up, partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat for Humanity of Craven County has assisted 74 individuals and families in achieving their dream of homeownership and an additional 61 individuals and families with critical home repairs. Habitat homeowners help build or repair their own homes alongside volunteers and pay 0% interest mortgage or loan.

The homeownership and repairs programs are made possible through generous contributions of volunteers’ time and labor, financial contributions, and through donations and purchases at the Habitat for Humanity of Craven County ReStore (located at 930 Pollock St.) To learn more and to volunteer with us, please visit cravencountyhabitat.org.

About the Wells Fargo Foundation

In 2022 Wells Fargo announced a commitment of $210 million to support two initiatives with a goal of supporting minority families to attain homeownership. Through their Wealth Opportunities Restored through Homeownership (WORTH) grants they will award $60 million to support public-private partnerships that develop and implement plans addressing root causes of the racial gaps related to homeownership. Wells Fargo expects the WORTH grants to support approximately 40,000 homeowners of color in eight housing markets that have significant racial gaps in homeownership. The second initiative is the Wells Fargo commitment of $150 million to lower mortgage rates and reduce refinancing costs in an effort to assist homeowners of color with accessing greater benefits from refinancing. Wells Fargo Home Lending CEO, Kristy Fercho, states “Wells Fargo has long been a leader in lending to minority families. These efforts are an important next step and will help close the homeownership gap between while and minority families created by decades of systemic inequities.” (philanthropynewsdigest.org)

In 2020, Wells Fargo invested $67.3 billion to help 261,219 Black and Hispanic families and individuals to become homeowners. In 2020 alone, through Wells Fargo businesses and the Wells Fargo Foundation, their charitable contributions totaled $475 million. In New Bern, NC their contributions have supported job training, small business growth, education, and housing affordability.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.79 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,200 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households and more than 10% of small businesses in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 41 on Fortune’s 2022 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.