Synovus Bank and Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta award $1 million to expand Huntsville homeless shelter
Columbus, Ga., March 13, 2025 – Synovus Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) awarded a $1 million grant to Downtown Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in Huntsville, Alabama, for an expansion project known as Building Hope for Tomorrow.
The Downtown Rescue Mission and Synovus Bank, a member of FHLBank Atlanta, partnered to apply for FHLBank Atlanta’s Affordable Housing Program General Fund. The $1 million grant represents 55% of the project’s total development cost and will enable the shelter to add 4,450 square feet and 61 transitional housing units to an existing facility for women and children. All housing at Downtown Rescue Mission is rent-free and residents have access to employment programs and comprehensive healthcare services.
“Beyond providing our clients with expert guidance to achieve their financial goals, Synovus also invests in local communities to foster their growth,” said Trent Clark, senior vice president, commercial banking at Synovus. “Especially given the nation’s widespread, affordable housing challenge, we appreciate our partnership with FHLBank Atlanta to help us disburse critical funding to an organization committed to helping the Huntsville community.”
FHLBank Atlanta’s General Fund is an annual program providing grants to assist in the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation or preservation of affordable housing projects. In December 2024, FHLBank Atlanta announced 66 grant recipients of its 2024 program, which allocated $55 million to support the development and repair of more than 4,200 affordable housing units.
“As the need for safe, quality housing grows, our members like Synovus are looking into their communities and partnering with local municipalities, developers and nonprofits to drive meaningful change,” said FHLBank Atlanta President and CEO Kirk Malmberg. “Our role is to provide funding each year to support these affordable housing and community development initiatives, and I’m pleased that we can help make the shelter’s expansion a reality.”
The Downtown Rescue Mission is located at 1420 Evangel Drive, Huntsville, AL 35816, and the Building Hope for Tomorrow initiative is scheduled to be completed in September 2025.
About Synovus
Synovus Bank, a Georgia-chartered, FDIC-insured bank, provides commercial and consumer banking in addition to a full suite of specialized products and services, including wealth services, treasury management, mortgage services, premium finance, asset-based lending, structured lending, capital markets and international banking. Synovus has branches in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Synovus is a Great Place to Work-Certified Company. Learn more about Synovus at synovus.com.
About Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank’s members—its shareholders and customers—are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district Banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $9.1 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than 1.2 million households. For more information, visit our website at www.fhlbatl.com.