Local organizations team up with Wells Fargo to support more affordable, sustainable neighborhoods

Local organizations from across Kinston, including Hope Restorations, Inc., the City of Kinston, the Kinston Police  Department, Kinston Parks and Recreation, and the Red Cross, will join Wells Fargo for Welcome Home, a community  enrichment project focused on East Kinston.  

Volunteers from Wells Fargo and across the community will be installing fire alarms in local homes, painting and  completing restoration projects, picking up litter with assistance from the Kinston Police Department, the Parks and  Recreation Department, and Public Services Environmental Department, various lawn maintenance projects, and  cleanup at a local public park. 

Hope Restorations Inc. received a $75,000 grant from Wells Fargo to help pay for the supplies and materials, as well as  to help increase their organizational capacity to serve more adults as they begin expanding their operations into Wayne  and Pitt Counties, while American Red Cross of Eastern North Carolina received a $25,000 grant from Wells Fargo to  help pay for the supplies and materials for the Home Fire Campaign, including Sound the Alarm. 

Founded in 2015, Hope Restorations is a non-profit social enterprise that helps adults recovering from addiction and/or  incarceration by providing steady income, employment preparation, mentoring, and other services needed for  successful transformation, while also restoring the community’s deteriorating, eyesore properties to produce safe,  energy-efficient, affordable housing units. Hope Restorations partners with many other community agencies to provide  as many needed services as possible for their participants. They also operate transitional housing programs called The  House of Hope and have recently begun operating a consignment store called Hope Restored that provides more  employment training opportunities for their female participants. 

The Red Cross Sound the Alarm program is unique in that it educates households about fire home safety, helps families  develop a fire evacuation plan, test and provides residents with free smoke alarms and installations. These additional  elements better prepare families in the event of home fire. Red Cross-together with Kinston Fire and Rescue installed  smoke alarms continue to save 1,393 lives across the country, including 47 in North Carolina. 

This activity is a part of a Wells Fargo initiative called Welcome Home, whereby Wells Fargo employees across the  country are working with local charities to make an impact in the company foundation’s funding priority, housing  affordability. Throughout the month of September, Wells Fargo employees will participate in more than 200 volunteer  events like this one in Kinston. 

In addition to human capital, Wells Fargo has committed significant philanthropic resources to develop solutions that  increase the supply of homes that are affordable and support families in realizing the dream of homeownership and  opportunities for building wealth. Since 2019, Wells Fargo has allocated nearly $400 million to help address the housing  affordability crisis in the country including homelessness, available and affordable rentals, transitional housing, and  homeownership.