Photo Caption: (left to right): Mark Roberts of Capital Ford of Raleigh, Robin Kelleher of Hope For The Warriors, Josh Barbour of Capital Ford of Wilmington, Sean Passmore of Wells Fargo, Wendy Murphy of Murphy Family Ventures, Johnny Bench, World Series Champion.
WALLACE, N.C. (August 27, 2024) – The Wells Fargo Foundation recently awarded Hope For The Warriors (HOPE), a national nonprofit dedicated to restoring a foundation of stability, strength and community for post-9/11 military families, a $200,000 grant.
Additionally, Wells Fargo and Capital Ford Wilmington and Capital Ford Raleigh, jointly contributed $66,000 for a new 2024 Ford Transit XL 15-passenger van, which will support HOPE’s various programs and events across the country. The van was presented during the organization’s 15th Annual Hope For The Warriors Celebrity Invitational hosted in Wallace, North Carolina.
The $200,000 unrestricted grant funds will be used to advance financial wellness and career readiness of the post-9/11 veterans, transitioning service members, their families and caregivers through HOPE’s Critical Needs and Warrior’s Compass programs.
Wells Fargo is committed to empowering military communities to effectively navigate life’s transitions to achieve ongoing career and financial success while impacting their community. Over the past 5 years (2019-2023), Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation has awarded over $64 million in grants to nonprofit organizations primarily serving military members or veterans, which support housing, career transition, financial health, and small business.
“Wells Fargo has been helping military members, veterans, and their families for over 160 years,” said Sean Passmore, Head of Enterprise Military and Veteran Initiatives, Wells Fargo. “Providing grant support to nonprofit organizations like Hope For The Warriors allows us to raise up our community through programs that are truly making an impact for veterans, transitioning service members and their families.”
“At Capital Ford, we take our commitment to the community seriously and we’re proud to support Hope For The Warriors, an organization that share our values,” said Josh Barbour, Capital Ford General Manager. “We know that the van we’re donating will be used to serve military members who have spent their lives serving us.”
Through the Critical Needs program, support will provide direct short-term financial assistance to military families experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of eviction or homelessness, food insecurity or barriers to mental and/or medical care. The goal of the financial assistance is to ensure housing stability in the form of rent/mortgage and utilities, and food security as well as transportation costs to remove barriers to essential mental and medical care/treatment/appointments.
In addition, Warrior’s Compass connects clients to HOPE’s portfolio of veteran-friendly employers throughout the U.S. Led by certified professional career coaches, webinars are designed to connect personnel, hiring managers, and military employee resource groups with interested, career-motivated transitioning service members, veterans or spouses. The webinars provide transition guidance, mentorship, skills development, and the opportunity to engage with hiring experts.
“We know how critical emergency funds and career transitions assistance are to the military families we support,” said Robin Kelleher, co-founder and CEO for Hope For The Warriors. “It means stability for the entire family. Families not having to move, yet again.
“In addition to the grant money, the donated 15-passanger van will continue to have a huge impact on the families we serve for years to come. From transporting military families at our events, warrior athletes and their adaptive equipment, to allowing our staff to attend and set up events on the east coast, this new van is a wonderful blessing to the organization!”
For more information on Hope For The Warriors, visit hopeforthewarriors.org, Facebook, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.
For more information on the Wells Fargo’s veteran initiatives, visit Support for service members and their families – Wells Fargo.
ABOUT HOPE FOR THE WARRIORS:
Founded in 2006, Hope For The Warriors is a national nonprofit dedicated to restoring a foundation of stability, strength and community for post-9/11 veterans, service members and military families. Since its inception, Hope For The Warriors has served over 171,000 service members, veterans, military spouses, and caregivers through 10 programs/services focused on providing financial, career and educational stability; physical and emotional strength; and social support that builds community. This includes The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Hope For The Warriors providing confidential, high-quality mental health care services. For more information, visit hopeforthewarriors.org, Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Erin McCloskey – Hope For The Warriors
Hope For The Warriors
erin@etmccloskey.com
(336) 207-5222
About Wells Fargo:
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 47 on Fortune’s 2023 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy.
News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo
About Capital Auto: In the spring of 1985, Capital Automotive Group’s flagship dealership, Capital Ford of Raleigh, was born. With unwavering dedication and a commitment to excellence, dealer principal and President Tim Michael quickly propelled Capital Ford of Raleigh into recognition as a premier entity within Ford Motor Company’s family of dealerships. Capital Ford of Raleigh proudly stands as the #1 retail sales volume dealership in the Carolinas. In 2003, Capital Automotive Group grew its second Ford franchise in Wilmington, and Capital Ford of Wilmington was born. The Capital Automotive Group family of dealerships encompasses 13 brands, spanning 28 franchises across 17 different cities from the west to the east in North and South Carolina. It is important to note that Capital Ford of Raleigh and Capital Ford of Wilmington, together with all the dealerships of the Capital Automotive Group family, stand strong against their competitors, regardless of the badge on the vehicle. Both Capital Ford of Raleigh and Capital Ford of Wilmington strive daily to help and serve the customers in our markets and surrounding areas to the best of our team’s ability. We believe the vehicles we offer are of the highest quality. In earning the customer’s trust in our team and dealership, we hope to build customers for life to take care of the customer for all their vehicle needs, from new or used vehicle sales, to service work needed, parts and accessories, and collision repairs.
