SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – Golden 1 Credit Union (Golden 1) announced 15 nonprofits in the Sacramento region are among the recipients of its Community Grant Program. This year, a combined total of $420,827 in grants will help advance local initiatives that promote literacy and assist foster youth as they transition to adulthood. This year’s local recipients include the Foundation for California Community Colleges and City Year Sacramento.

“Golden 1 has long-been committed to giving back to the communities we serve and, especially this year, it is more important than ever to continue to fund organizations that help young people flourish,” said Erica Taylor, Vice President of Communications and Community Relations. “We are proud to play a part in helping these nonprofits and the youth they serve succeed.”

The Foundation for California Community Colleges’ Sacramento Valley CalFresh Outreach Project aims to address food insecurity across the California Community Colleges with specific focus on helping current and former foster youth achieve their educational goals. Funding from Golden 1 will support continuation of a student ambassador program, which will engage California community college students to conduct outreach and raise awareness of CalFresh, California's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, among their peers. Through the project, transition age foster youth students will provide their peers with resources and tools to access CalFresh, helping to mitigate barriers to food access and improving outcomes in health and education across the system.

“Previous funding from Golden 1 allowed us to connect more than 7,000 students with CalFresh resources and access to the food they needed to succeed,” said Keetha Mills, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for California Community Colleges. “We are immensely grateful for their continued support and recognition of the community colleges’ ability to reach and positively impact the lives of millions of Californians through education.”

City Year Sacramento, an AmeriCorps program, empowers young adults from diverse backgrounds to serve full time for a year as student success coaches in schools located in low income neighborhoods. During the 2020-21 academic year, the grant from Golden 1 will be used to support the literacy component of City Year Sacramento’s‚ Whole School Whole Child (WSWC) program in Sacramento City Unified and St. HOPE Public partner schools. WSWC provides City Year service members with the strategies to effectively support teachers as partners, co-planners, and collaborators, and serve students as mentors, role models, and tutors.  

“City Year Sacramento is thrilled and honored to once again be recognized as a valued provider of literacy programing by Golden 1 Credit Union,” said Jeff Owen, Vice President and Executive Director for City Year Sacramento. “Golden 1 has been such a champion of our work to build confidence and improve reading skills, helping us support over 4,000 students annually in the Sacramento region. This grant means so much to us, especially this year with the hardships brought on by the coronavirus.”

Owen added this funding will also help City Year Sacramento serve alongside faculty and staff to help students reconnect with their school community, re-engage with their learning, and recover from the trauma associated with racial injustice, family job loss, illness or death, and sudden changes to their education and school based relationships.

In 2020, the Golden 1 Community Grant Program awarded 22 nonprofits throughout California a combined total of $602,327. Recipients in Sacramento include:

3Strands Global Foundation Challenge; 916 Ink; Aging up; Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento; City Year Sacramento; Compassion Planet; Compassion Planet; Foundation for California Community Colleges; Improve Your Tomorrow; Juma Ventures; Sacramento Public Library Foundation; Shores of Hope; Stanford Sierra Youth & Families; Teach For America - California Capital Valley; The Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center, Inc.

With nearly $15 billion in assets, Golden 1 Credit Union is one of the largest credit unions in the United States and proudly serves all those who live or work in California. Golden 1 Credit Union delivers financial solutions with value, convenience, and exceptional service to our members. As a dynamic and trusted leader, Golden 1 is committed to enhancing the financial well-being of Californians and their diverse communities. Golden 1 is 1 million members strong and has 1,800 employees. Visit www.golden1.com for more information.