The nonprofit arm of Regions Bank is donating $300,000 to help local governments in the Black Belt area of Alabama endure the financial burden of the coronavirus pandemic.
The funds will go to the Hope Enterprise Corporation and the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF), who are partnering to provide a line of credit for municipal and county governments.
The two organizations say the line of credit will provide financing for “millions of dollars worth” of expenses related to COVID-19 costs.
They also say that cities and counties can seek reimbursement through the CARES Act for much of the ultimate cost of those expenses.
“We know that not every community has the capacity to access CARES funds made available by reimbursement,” said Felecia Lucky, president of the BBCF in a release.
“To qualify for help, a community must spend its funds to be reimbursed. If those funds don’t exist, then residents are at a disadvantage in the fight against COVID,” she continued.
According to Regions, $150,000 of the money will go to creating a program-related investment (PRI) that aims to “provide up-front lending capital for the project.”
The second $150,000 is a grant that “will be available to support a loss-reserve pool that will help cover any potential losses if some cities or counties are unable to repay their line of credit.”
“This initiative will assist financially strapped counties and cities in the Black Belt that don’t have the financial wherewithal to spend money up front in order to access the funds they need to fight COVID in their communities,” Alabama State Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) added with respect to the effort.
State Senator Greg Albritton (R-Atmore), who authored the bill that made a portion of Alabama’s CARES Act money available to cities and counties, said on Monday that he was appreciative of “the collaboration of community partners working hand-in-hand to address urgent needs and bring about positive solutions for cities and counties throughout the region.”
Regions has partnered with the Hope Enterprise Corporation once before during the pandemic, giving a $100,000 grant to the group in April.
“Hope Enterprise Corporation is honored to join the Black Belt Community Foundation and other critical community partners, like the Regions Foundation, in assisting communities in the fight to mitigate and recover stronger from COVID-19,” remarked Kendra Key, senior vice president of Community and Economic Development for Hope Enterprise Corporation.
The $300,000 gift from the Regions Foundation makes a total of around $3 million dollars allotted by the overall corporation to help with coronavirus response efforts.
Regions has promised to spend at least $5 million on coronavirus recovery efforts over the life of the pandemic.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
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