Jumpstart, a national early-education organization with a particular emphasis on low-income children,brings together organizations from around the world to read the same book to millions of young readers on a single day as a way to celebrate literacy and provide access to high-quality children”™s books. KeyBank sponsored this event and also provided funding for 25 JumpStart program classrooms, which focus on preparing children for kindergarten.In addition, KeyBank provided more than 600 copies of this year”™s book selection, “Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon,” to children ages 2-5 living in 17 affordable housing communities in the bank”™s Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania markets.
KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investments (CDLI) Team Leader Victoria O”™Brien, who leads CDLI”™s affordable housing equity originations team, coordinated Key”™s JumpStart sponsorship and volunteer effort in collaboration with two large affordable housing developer clients: The Community Builders and Beacon Communities.
KeyBank CDLI has provided more than $8 billion in financing for affordable housing over the past three years. “Partnering with our clients to help their tenants and residents succeed is core to our values,” said O”™Brien.
In addition to distributing the books, KeyBank employee volunteers held read-along sessions to children at some of the properties.
Though headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. It is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187.0 billion at Sept. 30, 2021.
