Bank honors combined legacies and commitments
to local communities across the western region
LAKE
OSWEGO, Ore., Dec. 15,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Umpqua Bank and parent company
Columbia Banking System (Nasdaq: COLB) today announced the
nonprofit recipients of $1 million in
local grants to mark their respective 70th and
30th anniversaries, including $700K to organizations in honor of their
longstanding presence in the historic communities of South Puget
Sound, Portland Metro and
Douglas County Oregon.
According to David Moore Devine,
Umpqua's Chief Marketing Officer,
this year's anniversaries are especially meaningful given the
merger of Umpqua Bank and Columbia Bank earlier this year.
"Umpqua Bank and Columbia Bank were formed with the vision of
creating financial institutions deeply committed to the prosperity
of local communities and providing a strong, relationship model of
banking for families and businesses," said Moore Devine. "These
grants reflect our ongoing appreciation for the nonprofit
organizations that are committed to making a difference in our
local communities."
Umpqua Bank and Columbia Bank merged in March 2023, combining the two premier Northwest
banks to form a leading western bank and a top 30 bank in the U.S.
Currently based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, Umpqua Bank was formed in 1953 to
support the southern Oregon
community of Canyonville in
Douglas County, Oregon. In 1993,
Columbia Bank, under the banner of Columbia Banking System Inc.,
was established in Tacoma,
Washington, and quickly grew to become the leading community
bank headquartered in the state.
Grant recipients were selected for their strong community
leadership, their commitment to improving access to economic
opportunity, and their support for a variety of under-resourced
communities in the areas of affordable housing and homeownership,
education, career readiness, entrepreneurship, and health and
wellness.
To support the expansion and continued success of the
recipients' strategic work, grants in the amounts of $100,000 and $50,000 were awarded by the Umpqua Bank
Charitable Foundation to the following organizations:
$100,000 Grant
Recipients
- Rebuilding Together South Sound (Tacoma, WA)
Rebuilding Together South
Sound's mission is to repair homes, revitalize communities, and
rebuild lives with a vision of safe homes and communities for
everyone.
- Portland Workforce Alliance (Portland, OR)
Portland Workforce
Alliance builds enduring partnerships that improve Oregon's graduation rate, supports career
readiness, creates a strong and inclusive workforce, and helps
regional employers develop and diversify their pipelines of
talent.
$50,000 Grant
Recipients
South Sound Recipients
- Asia Pacific Cultural Center (Tacoma, WA)
The Asia Pacific Cultural
Center bridges communities and generations through the arts,
culture, education, and business. The center represents and serves
the Asia-Pacific people from 47
different countries, providing a wide range of programs and
activities, many of which are free or very low cost for
admission.
- Step By Step Family Support Center (Puyallup, WA)
Step By Step equips
pregnant mothers, women, and families to positively impact
generations. Step By Step provides maternity support services,
mental health services, and job training—supporting the entire
family unit with a holistic approach to care.
- Tacoma Community House (Tacoma,
WA)
Tacoma Community House creates opportunities for
immigrants and other community members in the Puget Sound region
through comprehensive services focused on self-sufficiency,
inclusion and advocacy.
- Tacoma Urban League
(Tacoma, WA)
The Tacoma
Urban League helps African Americans and other underserved urban
residents achieve social equality and economic independence through
direct-service programming to Tacoma-Pierce
County residents focused on education, health and welfare,
economic development and advocacy.
Portland Metro Recipients
- Community Partners for Affordable Housing (Tigard, OR)
Community Partners for
Affordable Housing advances equitable communities and housing
justice by developing sustainable and long-lasting housing,
providing residents with services for stabilization and growth, and
connecting people who are unhoused with a place to call home.
- Hacienda Community Development Corporation (Portland, OR)
As a Latino-led community
development corporation, Hacienda strengthens families by providing
affordable housing, homeownership support, economic advancement,
and educational opportunities.
- Oregon Native American Chamber (Portland, OR)
Known as the Northwest
Native Chamber, this indigenous-led organization is dedicated to
working with all members of the community to advance the
educational and economic opportunities for Native Americans in
Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
- Share Vancouver
(Vancouver, WA)
Share
pursues a stronger community by building relationships, advocating
for equitable access to housing and food stability while empowering
every individual to grow and thrive. Share offers emergency
shelters for men, women and families, a rapid re-housing program,
permanent supportive housing, a robust outreach program, a
community cleaning program, and meal and nutrition programs that
provide meals and supplemental food supplies to the community.
Douglas County Recipients
- Umpqua Community Development Corporation (Roseburg, OR)
Known as NeighborWorks
Umpqua, the nonprofit empowers its neighbors in need to pursue
opportunities in housing, finance and community. Programs and
services include building resilience through financial education,
financial coaching and the new Resilience Matched Savings Accounts
sponsored by Business Oregon.
- Riddle Roots Community Projects (Riddle, OR)
The mission of this
organization is to improve the quality of life and instill a sense
of belonging in rural, low-income Southern Douglas County communities by
providing local, equitable access to essential gathering spaces,
services, programs, resources and activities.
Additional Organizations Receiving Grants
- Bellwether Housing (Seattle,
WA)
Bellwether Housing creates stable communities and
access to opportunity through affordable housing. The nonprofit
develops and manages homes for people with limited income near job
centers, transit and services.
- California Capital Financial Development Corporation
(Sacramento, CA)
California
Capital provides capital and development services to increase
economic opportunities through integrated business services for
underserved and underbanked communities and people. The nonprofit
achieves this by offering a wide range of flexible training and
counseling services, as well as financial products that streamline
the ability for entrepreneurs to start their small
business.
- HomeAid America (Irvine,
CA)
HomeAid is dedicated to creating a future where
individuals can overcome homelessness, embark on new life journeys
and thrive by gaining access to housing, community engagement and
education.
- NewWest Community Capital, Inc. (Boise, ID)
NewWest increases access to
capital for affordable housing and community facilities, halts
community deterioration and creates jobs throughout the
economically disadvantaged areas of the western United States.
- Nimiipuu Fund (Lapwai,
ID)
The Nimiipuu Fund facilitates financial
independence by enhancing the personal and entrepreneurial capacity
of the Nez Perce Reservation and surrounding communities. The fund
promotes economic growth while embracing the cultural values and
traditions by providing tailored culturally relevant financial
products and services.
- Warm Springs Community Action Team (Warm Springs, OR)
Warm Springs
Community Action Team was founded to address issues of equity and
access to resources that provide civic and economic opportunity for
aspiring Native American business leaders, homeowners, tradespeople
and youth in a geographically isolated, asset-poor,
poverty-stricken community.
In addition to the $1 million in
strategic local grants awarded by Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation
in honor of the bank's anniversary celebration, Umpqua Bank
provided a special grant to Cake4Kids, a nonprofit that delivers
free homemade cakes to at-risk and underserved youths across the
country. Umpqua Bank awarded a $35,000 grant to the fourteen chapters that serve
communities across the bank's footprint in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah
and Washington.
To learn more about Umpqua Bank and its commitment to
supporting local communities across the markets it serves please
visit www.umpquabank.com/our-impact/partnerships/.
About Columbia
and Umpqua Bank
Columbia (NASDAQ: COLB) is headquartered in
Tacoma, Washington and is the
parent company of Umpqua Bank, an award-winning western U.S.
regional bank based in Lake Oswego,
Oregon. In March of 2023, Columbia and Umpqua combined two of the Pacific Northwest's
premier financial institutions under the Umpqua Bank brand to
create one of the largest banks headquartered in the West and a
top-30 U.S. bank. With over $50
billion of assets, Umpqua Bank combines the resources,
sophistication and expertise of a national bank with a commitment
to deliver personalized service at scale. The bank operates in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah,
and Washington State and supports
consumers and businesses through a full suite of services,
including retail and commercial banking; Small Business
Administration lending; institutional and corporate banking; and
equipment leasing. Umpqua Bank customers also have access to
comprehensive investment and wealth management expertise through
Columbia Wealth Advisors and Columbia Trust Company, a subsidiary
of Columbia. Learn more at
www.columbiabankingsystem.com.
About the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation
The Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization of
Umpqua Bank, recognizes the importance of building healthier, more
resilient, better connected and inclusive communities throughout
the eight-state footprint. It works to strengthen the communities
Umpqua Bank serves by investing in organizations and initiatives
that expand access to education and create economic opportunity for
individuals, families and small businesses. The foundation was
formed in 2014 to demonstrate Umpqua's deep commitment to the
communities it serves and has distributed $18 million across the
bank's footprint.
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SOURCE Umpqua Holdings Corporation