JP Morgan Chase is pleading $8.5 million for affordable housing and to tackle vacancy.

The money will go to non-profits, community groups and local developers who are committed to sustainable housing solutions, particularly in the city’s historically underserved communities.

Late last year, Mayor Brandon Scott announced his new strategy for tackling vacant housing. That plan, implemented in partnership with BUILD and the Greater Baltimore Committee, rings in around $3 billion. Scott says it will take a combination of federal, state and private dollars. Investments like the one from JP Morgan Chase are critical for that strategy.

“Vacancy represents one of Baltimore’s greatest challenges, but it also represents Baltimore’s greatest opportunity,” said Bree Jones of Parity Homes. Parity Homes, a community firm that revitalizes homes in West Baltimore, is one of the organizations that has already benefited from $13.4 million in philanthropic capital that Chase has invested in the city since 2019.

“With intentional capital, coupled with strong civic leadership, and most important — with the spirit of the people, folks on the ground — [those are] the ingredients to nurturing Baltimore's revitalization. And it is yielding results,” said Jones.

Chase is expanding into Baltimore and Tim Berry, the chairman of the bank’s Mid-Atlantic region, explained that the philanthropic investments in the community are part of that expansion.

“When we go into community, we bring the full force of JPMorgan Chase,” said Berry.

Berry also touted Chase’s “virtual call center”, which opened in October, that employs 40 people across the city who can do their customer service jobs virtually from their own homes.

$2.45 million from this most recent investment will go towards revitalizing commercial corridors, like West North and Pennsylvania Avenue.