Little Havana’s newest education center isn’t a school or library
On a Little Havana block not far from bakeries and other small businesses, there is a place where residents of the Miami neighborhood can access Wi-Fi or get critical personal-finance information, such as tips to improve their credit scores.
On Wednesday, blue and white balloons floating overhead gave it a celebratory look.
It wasn’t the opening of a new public library, howevto er. It was the Florida debut of a Chase Bank community financial center, a reimagined branch that combines traditional banking products and services with space for financial literacy classes and a technology bar.
“This building is a reflection of the people that live here,” said Diedra Porché, U.S. head of community business development at JPMorgan Chase. “We’re truly committed to taking community banking to community building. Our racial-equity commitment has become a driving force better the lives of people in communities like Little Havana.”
The community financial centers are a national
Chase concept focused on improving financial health in underserved communities.
They’re starting to open as part of the bank’s $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity and economic development in Black and Latino communities. The community centers are staffed by local experts focused on offering free financial workshops and events to help residents,
businesses and nonprofits.
Porché called the site in Little Havana a cornerstone for a vibrant community that has lacked financial and related educational resources.
The interior design of the community financial center differs from that of an oldschool bank with teller windows, small offices and cubicles. Instead, it has booths for people to sit in like they would at a popular eatery. Also, couches allow customers to sit next to Chase bankers and converse about savings accounts and commercial lines of credit in a friendly, informal setting. Local artists’ work, such as the mural of a rooster on one wall, give the center a different energy than one would typically expect at a financial institution.
Little Havana resident Jackie Gutierrez manages the community center.
“It’s going to give resources and tools to our community,” Gutierrez said. “Often times, our communities are afraid to raise their hand or ask questions because culturally we don’t do that. We’re here to provide a space where people can feel comfortable.”
Little Havana’s center is really a model for what Chase plans to roll out nationwide. Besides being the first Florida Chase branch converted to this banking concept, the Little Havana location is the first community center that the bank has opened in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood anywhere in the country. Chase has given priority to inner-city Miami as a place for the banking corporation to assist residents with financial literacy, attaining homeownership and closing the racial wealth gap.
Regarding actions to that end, Chase has committed to providing 15,000 loans to minority-owned small businesses, and is also offering $5,000 homebuyer grants to assist families with closing costs or down payments.
In addition, JPMorgan Chase is a partner in an effort in Miami-Dade County to give more opportunities in the area’s burgeoning tech sector to minority residents, including women of color. During CEO Jamie Dimon’s April visit to Miami Dade College, he announced the company’s involvement in a $100 million Tech Equity Miami program.
“We also do entrepreneur-of-color funds to help Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs generate and start to grow businesses. The next thing I’m doing is setting up a community branch,” Dimon told the Miami Herald in an interview during his recent visit.