ROSEVILLE – PRIDE Industries Foundation was awarded a $50,000 Wells Fargo RISE (Rural Investment for Sustainable Economies) grant to help people with disabilities find employment. The one-year grant will support job preparation and placement assistance to people with disabilities living in rural Northern California communities, with special emphasis on service-disabled veterans. The award was announced December 17.
Individuals with disabilities are unemployed at a rate four times greater than the general population despite a desire and ability to participate in the workforce. Disabled veterans face the additional challenge of translating military service skills into civilian workplace skills. PRIDE Industries Foundation operates in support of PRIDE Industries, a 501(c)3 nonprofit with nearly 50 years of expertise creating jobs for people with disabilities.
PRIDE Industries provides community job preparation and placement services to more than 350 people with disabilities each year in locations throughout Northern California. The majority of these individuals live in rural locations. Wells Fargo’s RISE grant will allow PRIDE to expand its services to individuals in those communities. Services supported by the grant funding will be available in Placer, Yuba, Sutter, Butte, Glenn, Stanislaus, and Yolo Counties.
“Wells Fargo understands the importance of workforce development and helping create sustainable communities,” said Natasha Mata, Wells Fargo Area President for Placer County. “This grant will go a long way to help strengthen and reinforce the efforts of PRIDE Industries as they focus on creating jobs in our communities.”
The grant to PRIDE is part of Wells Fargo’s $1.8 million Economic Opportunity program to support individual job seekers, the self-employed, and small business owners primarily in rural communities along the West Coast, from Alaska to California. Grantees were selected for their support of workforce development programs benefiting residents of urban and rural communities. The program is expected to create 8,000 jobs and provide small business development and technical assistance for 3,100 business owners, as reported by grant recipients.
About PRIDE Industries:
PRIDE Industries is a nonprofit organization meeting the manufacturing and facilities service needs of public and private organizations nationwide while creating meaningful jobs for people with disabilities. Operating in 14 states and the nation’s capital, PRIDE employs and serves more than 5,200 individuals.
About Wells Fargo:
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.6 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,700 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.
PRIDE Industries is a social enterprise delivering business excellence to public and private organizations nationwide.