Phoenix, Arizona (Business Wire) - Chase, the retail banking unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co., today announced a $1 million grant to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and its community development subsidiary, the Raza Development Fund (RDF), to finance land acquisition for community development projects around the country. The grant will also fund financial education programs delivered by NCLR's affiliate network.

"Our $1 million grant will address one of the most difficult challenges facing low- and moderate-income communities: gaining access to the capital necessary to build vibrant neighborhoods," said Mark Willis, head of community development for JPMorgan Chase. "This is just the start of what we hope will be a significant and sustainable relationship with NCLR."

A land acquisition fund managed by Arizona-based RDF will receive $750,000 of the total grant. RDF is the nation's largest and most successful Latino Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in the country. RDF will leverage use the grant money, along with access to $10 million for loans at favorable rates, to assist NCLR-affiliated community based organizations around the country in purchasing and developing land for affordable housing, charter schools, community child and health care centers, and other service-providing facilities.

The balance of the Chase grant will support NCLR affiliates offering a variety of financial education services, such as home ownership counseling, affordable banking services and credit counseling.

"Thanks to Chase, this unique investment will bear real fruit in the construction of community facilities that impact the lives of hundreds of low and moderate-income Latinos throughout the country," said Tommy Espinoza, RDF president and a longtime community leader in Phoenix. "It's especially timely to receive this grant in the final month of Raul Yzaguirre's presidency at NCLR, marking another milestone of his legacy."

Yzaguirre, who is retiring from NCLR this month after 30 years directing the organization, helped launch RDF in 1999 with the goal of providing flexible, high-quality loans and technical assistance to Latino-serving entities.

The announcement was made at RDF's annual board meeting in Phoenix, with officials from Chase and Bank One presenting the check to Yzaguirre, Espinoza and Janet Murguia, currently executive director and chief operating officer of NCLR. She will succeed Yzaguirre in January.

"This grant will significantly increase NCLR's impact as a community development organization," added Yzaguirre, who also serves as Chairman of the RDF Board of Directors. "I look forward to seeing this partnership with Chase continue to grow in the years to come."

Chase is part of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.1 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity.

A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JP Morgan Chase & Co. has its corporate headquarters in New York and its U.S. retail financial services and commercial banking headquarters in Chicago.

Under the JPMorgan, Chase and Bank One brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1968 to reduce poverty and discrimination and improve life opportunities for Hispanic Americans. NCLR works towards this goal by providing capacity-building assistance to support and strengthen Hispanic community-based organizations, and by conducting research, policy analysis, and advocacy that offers an Hispanic perspective on issues critical to the community. The Raza Development Fund (RDF), a subsidiary of NCLR, is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) established in 1999 to provide flexible, high-quality loans and technical assistance to Latino-serving entities. To date, RDF has approved more than 131 loans valued at more than $56 million. For more information about NCLR and RDF, please visit www.nclr.org.

Contacts:

Chase
Mary Jane Rogers, 602-221-4878

National Council of La Raza
Alexandra Jost, 202-785-1670

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Contacts

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF)
2210 “K” Street, Ste. 201
Sacramento, CA 95816 USA
916-446-7901
citizens2@jps.net
http://www.crlaf.org/
The focus of CRLAF’s border work is current U.S. immigration law enforcement strategies and migrant fatalities on the border.

Center for Immigration Research (CIR)
492 Philip G. Hoffman Hall, 4800 Calhoun Road
Houston, TX 77204-3474 USA
Contact: Jacqueline Maria Hagan
713-743-3964
Fax: 713-743-3943
http://www.uh.edu/cir/
CIR studies current immigration trends to inform decisionmakers concerning international and national immigration policies.

Centro de Estudios Fronterizos y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CEFPRODHAC)
Zaragoza No. 650, 3er Piso, Despacho 13, Zona Centro
Reynosa Tamps. 88550 MEXICO
Tel: (89) 22-49-22
Fax: (89) 22-24-41
cefprodh@mail.giga.com
http://www.giga.com/~cefprodh/
Nongovernmental organization working on migration issues in Mexico’s northern and southern border areas.

Coalicion de Derechos Humanos/Arizona Border Rights Project
PO Box 1286
Tucson AZ 85702 USA
Contact: Isabel Garcia
520-770-1373
Fax: 520-770-7455
AZBRP@aol.com
Working to end militarization on the border, document human rights abuses, and bring information on border and immigration issues to local communities.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Immigration Task Force
Contact: Rep. Luis Gutierrez
2452 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 USA
202-225-8203
Fax: 202-225-7810
Email form at http://www.nclr.org/contact.html
http://www.house.gov/gutierrez/

Farmworker Justice Fund
1111 19th Street NW, Ste. 1000
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Contact: Bruce Goldstein
202-776-1757
Fax: 202-776-1792
fjf@nclr.org
http://www.fwjustice.org/
Works to improve the living and working conditions of migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Has been very active on issues related to guestworker programs.

Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE)
1219 28th Street NW
Washington, DC 20007 USA
202-393-4373
Fax: 202-333-0468
pbarry@hereunion.org
http://www.hereunion.org/
Active in efforts to legalize undocumented migrants currently in the U.S.

Humane Borders
740 E. Speedway
Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
Contact: Rev. Robin Hoover
520-624-8695
rhoover@gci-net.com
Works to establish water and migrant aid stations in southern Arizona.

International Migration Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20036 USA
202-483-7600
Fax: 202-483-1840
info@ceip.org
Contact: Demetrios Papademetriou or Deborah Meyers
http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/imp/imp_home.ASP
The recently published report Mexico-U.S. Migration: A Shared Responsibility is available for download at the project’s website.

International Remittance Network, World Council of Credit Unions
5710 Mineral Point Road
Madison, WI 53705 USA
608-231-7130
Fax: 608-238-8020
mail@woccu.org
http://www.woccu.org/
Working to establish affordable alternatives for money wire transfers for migrant workers.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)
122 C Street NW #125
Washington DC 20001 USA
Contact: Merrill Smith
202-626-7934
Fax: 202-783-7502
advocacy@bellatlantic.net
LIRS has testified before Congress regarding recent migration-related policy developments.

Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network
Mexico:
Fundacion Sin Fronteras
Calle Ortega 27-1
Col. Coyoacan
Mexico, DF, C.P. 04000
Tel: (5) 554-6335
Fax: (5) 554-7180
sinfronteras@laneta.apc.org
Binational project dedicated to improving communication and understanding between Mexican and U.S. NGOs concerned with migration and developing vehicles for joint advocacy on those issues.

National Immigration Forum (NIF)
220 I Street NE, Ste. 220
Washington, DC 20002-4362 USA
202-544-0004
Fax: 202-544-1905
http://www.immigrationforum.org/index.htm
NIF is actively following ongoing discussions regarding the U.S.-Mexico migration relationship and working to engage with policymakers on the issue.

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIR)
310 Eighth Street, Ste. 307
Oakland, CA 94607 USA
510-465-1984
Fax: 510-465-1885
nnirr@nnirr.org
http://www.nnirr.org/
National organization composed of local coalitions, immigrant, refugee, community, religious, civil rights, and labor organizations, and activists.

North American Integration and Development Center (NAID), UCLA
Box 951656
3250 Public Policy Building
Los Angeles, California 90095-1656 USA
310-206-4609
Fax: 310-825-8574
http://NAID.sppsr.ucla.edu/
Has recently looked at policy issues related to U.S.-Mexico migration, including options for creating an expanded development role for the North American Development Bank.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
1313 L Street
Washington, DC 20005 USA
202-898-3200
info@seiu.org
http://www.seiu.org/
Active in efforts to win legalization for undocumented migrants currently in America.

Websites

Guestworker Clearinghouse Website
http://www.crlaf.org/gworkers.htm
Information on agricultural guestworker issues and legislation.

Mexican Secretariat of Exterior Relations (SRE)
http://sre.gob.mx/
Equivalent to the U.S. Department of State, SRE is responsible for managing Mexico’s foreign relations, including migration matters.

Migracion Internacional
http://www.migracioninternacional.com/
Source of news, analysis, and other information regarding U.S.-Mexico migration issues. Maintained by an official with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Relations.

Migration News
http://migration.ucdavis.edu/
One of the best online sources of news and analysis related to U.S.-migration matters.

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