USC’s Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement will use a $1.25 million grant to offer financial literacy training to community leaders, with the goal of promoting economic development in low- to moderate-income Los Angeles neighborhoods, it was announced Friday.
With the grant from CIT Bank, N.A. and its Southern California retail bank division, OneWest Bank, the Murray Center will partner with churches to train 6,000 individuals over the course of five years in personal financial management and small business development, including credit remediation, savings and investments, and homeownership.
Staff from the Murray Center, along with volunteer CIT bankers and financial professionals, will instruct the workshops.
“Urban communities suffer from the poverty of money, safety and most of all opportunity. CIT/OneWest Bank is giving people in these often overlooked communities the chance to gain financial capabilities,” said Mark Whitlock, executive director of the Murray Center at USC.
“With CIT’s generous support, the Murray Center will be able to help religious leaders and their constituents gain knowledge and resources for financial fitness, which will transform communities into better places to live, work and worship,” he said.
Steve Solk, president of CIT consumer banking, said, “Developing strong partnerships with organizations such as the Murray Center helps us serve community needs where we do business, using our collective networks and expertise. We’re pleased to launch this new program with the Murray Center and make a long-term commitment to helping our communities prosper.”
The Murray Center’s namesake is the Rev. Cecil Murray, who, as pastor of First AME Church in Los Angeles, served as an essential link between the community and civil authorities during the 1992 civil unrest.
Murray and the Rev. Mark Whitlock, now executive director of the Murray Center, founded FAME Renaissance, the economic development arm of FAME Church, to create jobs in South Los Angeles.
After retiring from FAME, Murray join the faculty of the religion department at USC to teach his “Murray Method” of faith and civic leadership to community leaders.
—City News Service