Chase Opens Community Center Branch in Bronx

NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase leaders and community partners cut the ribbon on a new Community Center branch in the Grand Concourse neighborhood of the Bronx. This branch, the second of its kind in the city, is built to expand access to banking, tools and advice to help customers get on a path to financial health and resilience.

The Grand Concourse Community Center branch features a team of local financial health experts focused on community engagement, mentorship and advice. The location looks and feels different from a “typical” bank – it combines a modern design, spacious layout, and the latest banking technology, reflecting how customers engage with Chase today. This branch also features art inspired by local students from the Michael Ford Art Camp, a large multipurpose room which can be used to host free financial health workshops, or pop-up shops for small business clients, and complimentary Wi-Fi for community groups and individuals on site.

“Access to financial advice and banking services is essential for any community to thrive and our Community Center Branches are at the center of lifting up communities by creating opportunities for growth,” said JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. “When we invest in communities, we become a trusted partner in that journey. Helping more people achieve their financial dreams is great for the Bronx, New York City and for our company.”

Chase opened its first Community Center branch in Harlem in 2019 as part of an overall effort to build stronger ties to the community and provide banking services and financial education to people who might not otherwise have access to them. Since then, Chase has opened 16 additional Community Centers across the country, 14 of which were a part of the firm’s Racial Equity Commitment to reach underserved communities. In addition to the Harlem and Bronx locations, Chase plans to open a Community Center in Brooklyn by the end of the year. These Community Centers are part of Chase’s 300 community-inspired branch network in underserved areas.

“Far too often, customers are intimidated when they visit a bank. They don’t know where to start or who to approach when they have a question. We want to change that,” said Diedra Porche, head of Chase Community and Business Development. “Our new Community Centers are open, welcoming and intentionally designed to build stronger ties to the community and provide banking services and financial education to people who might not otherwise have access to them.”

Chase Home Lending is offering a $7,500 homebuyer grant to help cover closing or down payment costs for eligible homebuyers purchasing a home in select, underserved communities across the nation. This benefit is currently available in more than 1,400 neighborhoods in the New York City metro area, including the Bronx.

Each Community Center has a Community Manager on site. Working closely with neighborhood leaders and businesses, they focus on understanding the challenges each community faces and then designing programs to address those challenges though a variety of ways, including:

• Hosting financial health workshops on topics such as budgeting, credit and homeownership, for both individuals and groups
• Offering complimentary one-on-one mentorship support to help local entrepreneurs grow, start or expand their small business

Community Center branch programming is open to Chase customers and non-customers alike.

In addition, Chase is hiring Community Private Client Advisors, a new role created to help people who want to invest, but don’t know where to begin. Community Private Client Advisors work closely with Community Managers to host complimentary workshops focused on helping current and prospective clients understand the fundamentals of investing.

The new Community Center represents an investment of $5 million. To build this location, Chase contracted Excel Construction, a local minority-owned construction firm. Construction is already underway in Brooklyn and the firm expects to open the branch by end of the year.

JPMorgan Chase serves New York City consumers and small businesses through more than 290 Chase branches across all five boroughs, with nearly 40 of those branches offering complimentary workshops, skills training and support for small businesses. The firm has invested over $4.8 billion in community development and financed more than 58,000 affordable homes in New York City.

Community Impact

In addition to making an impact through its core business, the firm partners with local leaders and organizations to scale solutions and help drive sustainable change.

As an example, Chase has partnered with the Hip Hop Museum to expand access to financial health tools, resources and education in underserved neighborhoods across the country. This joint initiative will create community events – in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York – focused on providing financial health education, featuring a hip hop touring exhibit, iconic artists, and professional athletes. Chase is also supporting the creation of a new Hip Hop Museum at Bronx Point in the South Bronx, and will host financial health programming at the museum when it opens in 2025.

In addition, the firm recently committed $450,000 to BronxWorks, a nonprofit organization that has served Bronx residents for decades, to help increase access to affordable housing in the borough. Through this partnership, Chase will support a rapid re-housing pilot program — Solutions to End Homelessness Program (STEHP) — which will provide affordable, safe homes for individuals and families who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness due to domestic violence. The program will also enable homeowners in the Bronx to receive stable income and grow generational wealth.