Western Alliance Bank Teams with FHLBank San Francisco to Award $1.25 Million Affordable Housing Grant to Blind Center of Nevada

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 6, 2025--

Western Alliance Bank has teamed with Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) to deliver a $1.25 million Affordable Housing Program (AHP) Nevada Targeted Fund grant to the Blind Center of Nevada to create 100 units of supportive housing in downtown Las Vegas.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250806139016/en/

Western Alliance Bank successfully supported the Blind Center of Nevada’s Visions Park project in securing the maximum grant funding available from FHLBank San Francisco’s 2025 AHP Nevada Target Fund. This project was one of only five selected statewide for this year’s targeted funding.

Visions Park is a 100-unit permanent supportive housing project directly adjacent to the Blind Center’s facility near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Bruce Street. The project will serve those who are blind and visually impaired with income at or below 40% of Area Median Income (AMI).

“It is extremely gratifying to see this meaningful project come to life to address the critical need for affordable housing in Nevada, particularly for individuals living with disabilities,” said Aidan Tracey, assistant vice president of portfolio management for Western Alliance Bank’s Affordable Housing Finance Group. “We could not be happier to play a role in bringing this project to fruition to provide safe, quality housing for Nevadans who are blind or have visual impairment.”

Visions Park broke ground last September and is scheduled to open in early 2026.

“Visions Park is the first of its kind in the United States — a supportive housing development located directly adjacent to the Blind Center of Nevada,” said Todd Imholte, president and CEO of the Blind Center of Nevada. “Not only does it provide essential housing, it empowers our clients and residents to easily access the services to help them reach their highest potential.”

FHLBank San Francisco’s member financial institutions work in partnership with community-based housing developers to compete for AHP General Fund or Nevada Targeted Fund grants by submitting applications for specific projects in an annual funding competition. According to The Gap 2024, a yearly report compiled by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Nevada is experiencing a significant affordable housing shortfall, with just 14 affordable homes per 100 households. To address the dire need in Nevada, FHLBank San Francisco launched the Nevada Targeted Fund in 2023.

AHP grants contribute to the development, preservation or purchase of multifamily and single-family housing that serves people in need, including lower-income families, the chronically unhoused, families, seniors, veterans, at-risk youth, people living with disabilities and mental health challenges or overcoming substance abuse, and many others.

“We continue to make meaningful investments to address the affordable housing crisis across Arizona, California and Nevada,” said Joseph E. Amato, interim president and CEO of FHLBank San Francisco. “This funding for the Blind Center of Nevada, delivered in partnership with our member Western Alliance Bank, is an example of our work to expand the supply of housing that delivers critical support services to individuals and families who need it most.”

About Western Alliance Bank

With more than $85 billion in assets, Western Alliance Bancorporation is one of the country’s top-performing banking companies. Its primary subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, offers a full spectrum of tailored commercial banking solutions and consumer products, all delivered with outstanding service by banking and mortgage experts who put customers first. Major accolades include being ranked as a top U.S. bank in 2024 by American Banker and Bank Director and receiving #1 rankings on Extel’s (formerly Institutional Investor’s) All-America Executive Team Midcap Banks 2024 for Best CEO, Best CFO and Best Company Board of Directors. Serving clients across the country wherever business happens, Western Alliance Bank operates individual, full-service banking and financial brands with offices in key markets nationwide. For more information, visit Western Alliance Bank.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona, California, and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions — commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions — propel homeownership, finance quality affordable housing, drive economic vitality, and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant and resilient.

About the Blind Center of Nevada

Founded in 1955, the Blind Center of Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals who are blind or visually impaired reach their highest potential. Located in Las Vegas, the Center provides a full range of services including independent living training, culinary training, job skills development, assistive technology education, and social enrichment programs.

Through innovative programs like its electronics recycling and its events enterprises, the Blind Center creates employment opportunities for members while generating sustainable revenue to fund its mission. The organization serves hundreds of Nevadans each year and is a national model for nonprofit innovation and inclusion.

To learn more, visit www.blindcenter.org.

Visions Park, Las Vegas

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — As snow from a massive storm began to fall in Bangor, Maine, on Sunday night, six people who had stopped to refuel a Paris-bound luxury jet prepared for takeoff. None would survive the crash that followed, the cause of which remains unknown.

A departing plane ahead of them radioed to the tower that visibility wasn’t great and they chose not to fly, but the winds were relatively mild and the snow, powdery and fine in the near-zero temperatures, had accumulated only a dusting. Airport officials say the plane went through the standard de-icing process and got in line with other jets that took off safely.

The plane, however, crashed during takeoff, leaving the jet burning and inverted on the tarmac, killing everyone on board. Among them a corporate pilot who was recently hired at the Texas law firm linked to the plane, and an event planner who had worked with the firm on previous occasions.

Lakewood Church in Houston, run by Joel Osteen Ministries, confirmed on Tuesday that longtime employee Shawna Collins, 53, was among those killed. Collins’ social media posts show her work organizing parties and events in Italy, Hawaii and elsewhere, for clients that included Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers, the Houston law firm whose co-founder is listed on the plane’s registration.

“Everybody loved her. She just had that kind of personality,” church spokesperson Donald Iloff Jr. told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The family of pilot Jacob Hosmer, 47, confirmed his death on Tuesday but declined to comment. Hosmer started working for Arnold and Itkin seven months ago as a “team captain,” according to his LinkedIn page. He had been a licensed flight instructor and the managing member of Platinum Skies Aviation LLC, incorporated in Texas in late 2024, online records show.

A founding partner of the firm is listed as the agent for the company that owns the plane. The personal injury firm — whose partners are major donors to the University of Texas football and other causes — has so far declined to identify the passengers or comment on the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday began its investigation while Bangor International Airport remained closed to preserve the scene where the two crew and four passengers aboard the plane died in the Sunday evening crash.

Collins, who was married with children and grandchildren, had also been helping plan her daughter’s wedding set for this year, Iloff said.

“She was very good at it. Everybody wanted her to plan her events for them,” he said.

The church, in a statement, called Collins “a light that brightened our days."

The Bombardier Challenger 600 flipped over and burned on takeoff at around 7:45 p.m. after stopping along its journey from Houston to Paris to refuel. It remained unclear on Tuesday if the weather or cold played a role in the crash as investigators were just beginning their work.

Bangor police were waiting for the NTSB to allow them to access the plane to identify the victims and, with the state coroner's office, care for their bodies.

Dozens of scheduled flights had been impacted, the airport said.

The FAA, in an updated accident statement on Tuesday, said the plane “crashed under unknown circumstances on departure, came to rest inverted and caught on fire.”

The international airport in Bangor, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Boston, is one of the closest in the U.S. to Europe and is often used to refuel private jets flying overseas. The Bombardier was headed for France when it crashed.

NTSB officials said they would have an update on Wednesday. A preliminary report outlining the facts of the crash should be released in about a month, but the final version likely won't be published for more than a year.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 is a wide-bodied business jet configured for nine to 11 passengers. It was launched in 1980 as the first private jet with a “walk-about cabin” and remains a popular charter option, according to aircharterservice.com.

Experts say the weather and questions about whether ice accumulating on the wings kept the plane from getting airborne — as has happened at least twice before on that plane model — will likely be an initial focus by the NTSB. However, the agency will consider all possible factors.

“Nothing is off the table,” said John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 model crashed in Birmingham, England; and Montrose, Colorado, more than 20 years ago, aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said.

“Given the weather conditions at the time, and the history of wing contamination with this particular aircraft, I’m sure that’s something the NTSB is going to look into immediately,” Guzzetti said.

Funk contributed from Omaha, Nebraska and Dale reported from Philadelphia.

This image taken from video provided by WABI television, emergency services work on a scene of the Bombardier Challenger 600 crash at the Bangor Airport in Maine, late Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (WABI via AP)