BANK FOUNDATION GRANT HELPS LOW-INCOME AND UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS

From left: Charles Stott, LUW director of shelters; Willa Brody, LUW chief operating officer; Deborah Hertz, LUW director of program design; Anahaita Kotval, CEO; John Manginelli, KeyBank market president; Elona Shape, KeyBank area retail leader; Analisha Michanczyk, KeyBank corporate responsibility office, Sybil St. Germain, KeyBank philanthropy coordinator; and Edona Ismaji, KeyBank experience leader.

Lifting Up Westchester (LUW), a community-based, social services agency providing life-changing support to Westchester County residents in crisis, recently received a two-year, $200,000 charitable grant from KeyBank Foundation to launch a new Career Center, which will take a holistic approach to strengthening people”™s stability and self-sufficiency. The groundbreaking project will combine a variety of resources that will position LUW to help address a broader set of unique challenges individuals are experiencing.

“Most people want to work but many have significant barriers to finding job opportunities. Our center will focus on overcoming these barriers so Westchester residents can get back to work or find employment that better meets their needs. The center will complement the existing employment programs in Westchester County by providing intense job-readiness services that address the high barriers people with extremely low-income face every day,” said Anahaita Kotval, LUW CEO.

With KeyBank”™s support, LUW will build out a physical career center, hire staff, establish employment partnerships, and work with the Department of Social Services and other social welfare organizations to build a pipeline to targeted populations. The program strives to assist an estimated 175 unemployed and significantly under-employed individuals over KeyBank”™s two-year funding period.

KeyBank Foundation grants are made under Key”™s National Community Benefits Plan established in 2017, which has already delivered more than $18 billion in lending and investments across Key”™s national footprint.

KeyCorp”™s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered now in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation”™s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $190.1 billion.