CommunityWorks announced it received a $300,000 grant from Truist Financial Corporation to support small businesses facing the effects of COVID-19 throughout South Carolina. This generous grant will be instrumental in advancing CommunityWorks’ efforts to help small businesses throughout South Carolina. As part of its partnership with OneSpartanburg Inc.’s Bringing Back the Burg Fund, CommunityWorks pledges to use $50,000 of the grant specifically for COVID-19 recovery efforts for Spartanburg businesses.

Tammie Hoy Hawkins, CEO of CommunityWorks, said, “This incredibly generous gift from Truist will be instrumental in the work we are doing to help businesses survive COVID-19. We are thankful for the support of Truist to strengthen communities in this trying time.”

OneSpartanburg Inc. and CommunityWorks established the Bringing Back the Burg campaign as an ongoing effort to financially assist qualifying small businesses impacted by COVID-19 through low interest and forgivable loans. The grant from Truist, which is part of the financial services company’s Truist Cares* initiative, will be instrumental in the Bringing Back the Burg campaign and for businesses and partnerships throughout South Carolina.

CommunityWorks helped nearly 200 small businesses apply for and receive over $2.6 million in funding through the Paycheck Protection Program. The organization continues to seek relief sources for businesses impacted by COVID-19, including several in-house financial relief products. The Truist Cares grant will support the programs of CommunityWorks and allow the organization to serve more individuals through small business technical assistance, coaching and low interest recovery loans.

Mike Brenan, South Carolina regional president at Truist, said, “We’re proud to partner with CommunityWorks to support small businesses across our state during this challenging time. Small businesses are vital to our economy, and helping them thrive throughout the pandemic and beyond is one way we’re fulfilling the Truist purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities.”

About CommunityWorks

CommunityWorks was established in 2008 as a local housing trust fund through a partnership between the City of Greenville, United Way of Greenville County and Greenville County Redevelopment Authority. CommunityWorks’ mission is to build a brighter future for underserved families and communities through financial education, lending, and investing. In 2011 CommunityWorks was certified by U.S. Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) which operates a community loan fund that supports community economic development.

Since its inception, CW has generated over $269 million in local economic impact and has served 5,502 families, provided over $4.6 million loans to startups and existing small businesses, and deployed over $7 million in affordable housing and community loans that have created or preserved over 891 affordable housing units.

About Truist

Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspire and
build better lives and communities. With 275 years of combined BB&T and SunTrust history, Truist serves approximately 12 million households with leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country. The company offers a wide range of services including retail, small business and commercial banking; asset management; capital markets; commercial real estate; corporate and institutional banking; insurance; mortgage; payments; specialized lending and wealth management. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist is the sixth-largest commercial bank in the U.S. Truist Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at Truist.com.

• Truist Cares is a cooperative effort between Truist Financial Corporation, Truist Foundation, Inc., and Truist Charitable Fund to provide communities, organizations and individuals disaster relief and assistance during the COVID-19 crisis.