CHERRY HILL, N.J., March 5, 2024 – TD today announced the grant recipients of its 2023 TD Ready Challenge, an annual North American initiative that seeks to support non-profit and charitable organizations developing innovative, impactful, and measurable solutions for communities across the U.S. and Canada. This year's recipients include five U.S. non-profit organizations providing innovative solutions that address systemic barriers to affordable housing across the continuum from transitional to permanent homes.
"Having a safe and stable place to call home is central to overall wellbeing. The lack of affordable housing causes serious ripple effects that impact everything from health outcomes to educational opportunities to overall financial security," said Shelley Sylva, Head of U.S. Corporate Citizenship at TD Bank. "Part of the goal of the TD Ready Challenge is to uplift and support nonprofits in their innovative efforts to enrich the communities where we live and work, and I am incredibly proud of the five U.S. recipients and the impact I know they're going to have on so many across our footprint in the years to come."
The TD Ready Challenge is part of the Bank's longstanding commitment to helping create a more inclusive and sustainable future, and a signature program within its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment. Each year, the TD Ready Challenge invites eligible organizations to submit applications that offer solutions for a problem statement that is connected to the TD Ready Commitment and its four drivers of change: Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Always themed around timely issues, in previous years, the TD Ready Challenge has focused on driving more equitable health outcomes, promoting income stability, and addressing pandemic-related learning loss.
"Opening doors for a more inclusive and sustainable future is core to our purpose as a community-focused organization," said Leo Salom, President and CEO, TD Bank. "Through the TD Ready Challenge, we're standing behind organizations with promising new ideas to address systemic barriers to permanent and stable housing in communities across our footprint and helping to create additional economic opportunities for all."
The five $1 million U.S. 2023 TD Ready Challenge recipients describe their winning submissions in their own words:
Washington Housing Conservancy - Housing + Mobility + Equity Accelerator (HMEA) – Washington, DC
"The Housing + Mobility + Equity Accelerator (HMEA) preserves housing affordability in the Washington DC-region, while providing other cities with a blueprint for doing the same. HMEA is uniquely focused on competing with private-sector developers to increase the supply of affordable rental homes for residents at greatest risk of being displaced from economically thriving neighbourhoods."
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders - Empowering Latino Households: Building, Preserving, and Paving the Way to Affordable Housing Success – Texas
"NALCAB proposes a solution to address systemic housing exclusion for Latinos and has developed a coordinated trinary approach to advance economic mobility through affordable housing: Production, Preservation, and Pipeline (financial readiness). This project focuses on the third, and most important element of the strategy: building the financial wellness of potential homebuyers and renters."
Clarifi - A Multi-Intervention Strategy to Combat Barriers to Affordable Housing – Pennsylvania
"Clarifi is proposing a multi-intervention strategy to address barriers to affordable and sustainable housing for low-to-moderate individuals and families in the Greater Philadelphia area. Combining our expertise in financial empowerment and housing counseling, home repair access, and financial resilience grants, we can address the many housing affordability problems that Philadelphians face."
The Community Builders, Inc. - HOME ROOM: Economic Stability and Mobility Through Housing – Massachusetts
"TCB's HOME ROOM initiative will address the needs of residents facing chronic housing instability across two states and set them on a path to lasting housing and financial stability through a two-part approach, 1) Construction: increasing the supply of permanent supportive housing units, and 2) Wealth and Housing: place-based financial and wraparound services through Community Life (CL)."
Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida - HSSF Evergreen Initiatives: Preserving Homeownership by Dismantling Energy Inequities in LMI Communities of Color – Florida
"This initiative aims to dismantle energy inequities by expanding the green initiatives portfolio for the LMI BIPOC community, which includes catalyzing adoption of energy efficiency, clean energy, water conservation, and resiliency measures. It also includes all of NHSSF's business lines - from housing counseling, homeownership promotion and preservation, real estate development, and lending."
To learn more about the 2023 grant recipients and the TD Ready Challenge, visit: www.td.com/readychallenge.
About The TD Ready Commitment
TD has a long-standing commitment to enriching the lives of its customers, colleagues and communities. As part of its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, TD is targeting CDN $1 billion (U.S. $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow – Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Through the TD Ready Commitment, TD aspires to link its business, philanthropy and human capital to help people feel more confident - not just about their finances, but also in their ability to achieve their personal goals in a changing world. For further information, visit td.com/tdreadycommitment.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves over 27.5 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth (U.S.), and an investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation; Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD Cowen. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 16 million active online and mobile customers. TD had $1.96 trillion in assets on October 31, 2023. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
Media Contact:
Natasha Brown
Corporate Communications Manager
TD Bank
Natasha.Brown@td.com