PRO Neighborhoods
Partnerships for Raising Opportunity in Neighborhoods
Funded with a $5M grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Fresno’s PRO Neighborhoods Initiative built the Fresno Community Capital Collaborative, a partnership of small business development and neighborhood organizations who, together, provided nearly $5M in small business loans to 84 businesses. 98% of the small businesses supported were BIPOC-owned.
Foundation’s Role
The Foundation convened the small business and neighborhood development organizations, worked with them to develop the fundraising proposal, secured $5M of seed capital, served as fiscal sponsor for the grant funds, and monitored the results of the program.
Geographic Focus
Three neighborhoods in Fresno’s urban core (Chinatown, Downtown, and Lowell neighborhoods) and priority communities across the city.
Fresno’s well documented challenges with poverty and economically depressed neighborhoods were a catalyst for a grant award from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation aimed at promoting inclusive growth through collaboration in support of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Along with over a dozen community partners, the Foundation launched The Fresno Community Capital Collaborative for Economic Mobility by leveraging CDFIs to strengthen economically distressed neighborhoods by increasing financing available to grow wealth and build or improve homes in Fresno’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
PRO Neighborhoods Partners
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Access Plus Capital
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Center for Community Transformation at Fresno Pacific University
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Chinatown Fresno Foundation
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Community Vision
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Downtown Fresno Foundation
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Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation
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Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce
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Fresno Metro Ministry
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Lowell Community Development Corporation
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Opportunity Fund
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The Pi Shop
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Saint Rest Economic Development Corporation
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Valley Innovators
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59 Days of Code