BOISE, Idaho, December 22, 2022 /CSRwire/ - KeyBank has awarded a $200,000 grant to Jannus, Inc., administrator of the Idaho Office for Refugees (IOR) organization focused on advancing economic and racial equity for refugees and immigrants in Idaho. The KeyBank grant will support two of IOR’s programs: Global Gardens and Global Talent.

Global Gardens is an urban agriculture training program for refugee farmers, offering land, water and infrastructure at five farm sites, all aimed at creating agricultural jobs and businesses, as well as decreasing food insecurity across the community. The program teaches farmers lean faming strategies to conserve water and soil, and helps small-scale farmers access the Boise food economy through direct-to-consumer sales and aggregated wholesale programs for restaurants and cafeterias.

Global Talent is designed to help Idaho-based college-educated immigrants and refugees start or reclaim their professional careers. Participants have access to a national curriculum, training resources and one-on-one career coaching sessions. The program’s goal is to prepare participants to achieve self-sufficiency through high-quality professional positions.

“The work of Jannus and the Idaho Office of Refugees through these programs is helping immigrants by providing the resources, training and additional support needed to help them escape poverty and live the American dream,” said Scott Schlange, president of KeyBank Idaho. “At KeyBank, we are committed to giving back in ways that make our communities stronger, and it is our pleasure to support Jannus and the important work they are doing through the Global Gardens and Global Talent programs.”

Jannus anticipates that because of these programs, Idaho communities will benefit by having greater access to fresh local produce, and employers will have an increased local talent pool of highly qualified job candidates.

"We're so excited to have support from KeyBank to really address needs that we've seen over the years," said Hannah Roche, manager of Global Talent. "For example, we will be creating a business English class for Global Talent participants that will increase their ability to thrive in the workplace.”

"With this grant we will be developing the community garden, which is in Boise city limits and also in a low-income area," said Rabiou Manzo, who managed Global Gardens for the past three seasons. "That will provide fresh vegetables to people and produce less greenhouse gases. Farmers will learn techniques to increase yield and decrease food waste. We are hoping this will increase racial and financial equity for refugee farmers in Idaho."

About Jannus Inc.

Jannus is a not-for-profit health and human services organization in Idaho that successfully helps individuals, families and communities in transition — from infancy to healthy childhood, from illness to health, from refugee to working citizens, and from isolation to community. Jannus changes lives with mission-driven, highly skilled professional staff, caring and committed volunteers and a portfolio of more than 20 diverse programs and services that promote community health, advance public policy and create economic opportunity.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $190.1 billion at September 30, 2022. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

CONTACT:

Jannus, Inc./Idaho Office for Refugees
Holly Beech
208-955-6532
hbeech@idahorefugees.org

KeyBank:
Jennifer Shermer
303-902-9419
jennifer@keetonpr.com

KeyBank

KeyBank

KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $176.2 billion at March 31, 2021. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,100 branches and more than 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC. 

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