Our Commitment to Support & Strengthen Rochester

I’m proud of what Bank of America is helping the city accomplish, and we’re finding ways to double down on our commitments. We’re building on the bank’s connections to help make financial lives better.

Colleen Matteson | President, Bank of America Rochester

Now as always, our commitment to help strengthen the communities we serve is unwavering. We’re partnering with local leaders and organizations to address critical needs, and to advance racial equality and economic opportunity. We’re collaborating with companies and working with skill-building partners to help people succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s economy. And we’re doing our part to help people stay healthy — including investing in benefits and resources for our employees who serve our clients in their communities.

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Colleen Matteson | President, Bank of America Rochester

Let’s build something together

We’re committed to ensuring everyone in Rochester has the opportunity to share in the city’s success through programs focused on building career skills and helping our most vulnerable communities. These initiatives include supporting a local college that pinpoints and supplies the training needed for high-demand jobs in IT, healthcare, professional services and manufacturing. We’re focused on adding a program for non-clinical healthcare, which has a 20% local vacancy rate, partnering with local employers to gain hiring commitments. We also help fund community-centered programs that not only build vibrant neighborhoods but also train at-risk youth from racially diverse communities to cultivate cut flower gardens on once-vacant lots in the city of Rochester. These youth also harvest and sell the flowers, ultimately developing their business skills and improving mental health. And, together with local nonprofits, we've helped women re-enter the workforce and supported a homeless shelter for LGBT youth in a high-poverty area.

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In Rochester, Center for Youth has served as a lifeline for young people for more than 50 years, offering wide-ranging services from housing support to educational and job-readiness services. Now, the Center’s youth-centered and youth-directed initiative, Flower City Changemakers, is assisting young leaders with paid internships, transportation and social and emotional support services. In what the Center calls “A Bridge to Peace,” these youth leaders will ultimately engage more than 200 local young people each year.

The need for real progress on racial and economic inequality in the United States has been accentuated by the impact of the coronavirus on communities of color, and amplified by acts of injustice. We all have a role to play in helping move communities forward – an understanding that forms the foundation of Bank of America’s long-standing commitment to the people and communities it serves. And they’re at the heart of the bank’s $1.25 billion commitment over the next five years to advance racial equality and economic opportunity.

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Whether you have everyday financial needs or more complex ones, our experienced specialists can help at locations around your city. Find a location and make an appointment to talk with us.

We remain committed to supporting you with your financial needs during the health crisis. Of course, nothing is more important than your health and safety, and we have taken multiple steps to minimize health risks, based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. These steps we have taken in our financial centers include enhancing the daily cleaning procedures, implementing plastic screens and distancing markers, following local restrictions on the number of clients that can enter a financial center at one time, and requiring our employees to wear masks. In addition, we are requiring clients wear masks when visiting our financial centers.

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