Denver Area Groups Receive Grants From U.S. Bancorp Foundation.

Business Editors

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2003

Twenty-eight nonprofit organizations in the Denver area were recently awarded more than $205,000 in grants by the U.S. Bancorp Foundation. Mark Smith, president of U.S. Bank in Denver, announced the affordable housing, arts and culture, economic opportunity and education grants.

"Economic stagnation, a sluggish stock market and growing government shortfalls have created a challenging fund raising environment for nonprofits. During these tough times we are especially pleased to support our partners who provide such essential programs and services to the families in our community," said Smith.

To help develop affordable housing for Denver area working families U.S. Bank awarded operating grants to Brothers Redevelopment, Inc., Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Colorado Housing Enterprises, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, Hope Communities, Inc., Mercy Housing Southwest, Mile High Housing Fund, Neighborhood Partners, Northeast Denver Housing Center and Southwest Neighborhood Housing, Inc. To help working families achieve the American dream of homeownership Colorado Housing Assistance Corp. and Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Greater Denver, Inc. received support for the homeownership education and counseling programs. Colorado Affordable Housing Partnership received a grant to help maintain their web site, a valuable source of affordable housing information.

Several arts organizations were awarded grants. ArtReach, Inc. received support for their community events program, Central City Opera House Association for their interactive school performances, Colorado Symphony Association for the 2004 Martin Luther King Community Concert and the Denver Art Museum for Members Mondays.

Economic opportunity grants were awarded to Colorado Enterprise Fund and Denver Small Business Development Center for their small business training and microlending programs. Neighborhood Resource Center of Colorado received a grant for their inner city good neighbor project. The Urban League of Metro Denver, Warren Village, Inc. and the Women's Bean Project received grants to help at risk families move toward economic self-sufficiency.

Education grants were provided to Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver for their Friday Afternoon Club in partnership with Denver Public Schools, Denver Area Council of Boy Scouts for their inner city scouting program, Summer Scholars for their summer literacy program for inner city youth and Young Americans Center for Financial Education for their International Towne financial literacy program.

In addition, Colorado Association of Nonprofit Organizations (CANPO) received a grant to support their programs to strengthen nonprofit organizations across Colorado.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), with assets of $195 billion, is the 8th largest financial services holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,199 banking offices and 4,575 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp is home of the Five Star Service Guarantee which assures customers of certain key banking benefits and services or customers will be paid for their inconvenience. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of U.S. Bank. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.