2021 ESG Report SOCIAL FE ATU RE Bank’s Community Development Co. Helps Fill Gaps in Neighborhoods The Fifth Third Community Development Co. invests in real estate projects across our footprint to help communities thrive. These investments can include afordable housing, small business spaces or commercial projects. “Without this type of investment, many of these projects would struggle to come to life,” said Susan Thomas, the CDC’s president. “We look for projects that fll a need in the community. What do the people living there need that they don’t currently have?” Images from left to right: A rendering of Blair Lofts, an afordable housing development in Cincinnati’s Avondale neighborhood; Fifth Third’s investment in the National Equity Fund’s Emerging Minority Developer Fund is enabling more afordable housing projects like this one; Five Rivers Health Centers in Dayton, Ohio, ofers vital services to community residents. Susan Thomas, president, Fifth Third CDC. Contents Helping up-and-coming minority real estate developers break through fnancial barriers In November 2021, the Bank announced it was one of eight banks to invest a total of $85 million in frst-round funding for National Equity Fund’s Emerging Minority Developer Fund. The EMDF was established to help emerging minority-owned developers gain access to low income housing tax credits to create afordable housing. The EMDF does this by providing tax credit equity capital, technical support and tailored project underwriting to help the developers establish a track record of success and improve their fnancial stability as their business grows. Introduction Economic Environment Social Governance Neighborhoods need health care, too When a neighborhood has quality health care facilities, the resulting improved outcomes can help lead to longer, happier lives. Five Rivers Health Centers , a federally qualifed health center serving the Dayton, Ohio, community, also received funds from our Community Development Co. The CDC investment will assist the construction of Five Rivers’ new Edgemont campus, located in the racially and economically diverse neighborhood of West Dayton. The new facility will ofer services including internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, dental, hematology and oncology, psychiatry, sports medicine, addiction medicine, general surgery, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, acupuncture and massage therapy in one location. This new facility will serve over 15,000 patients, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. “Without the unwavering commitment from Fifth Third to this project, there is no way that Five Rivers Health Centers could have embarked on our frst property,” said Gina McFarlane-El, chief executive ofcer. Bringing afordable housing to Cincinnati’s Avondale through Empowering Black Futures neighborhood program The Blair Lofts project is an afordable housing development in Avondale, a neighborhood in Cincinnati. Avondale is one of the neighborhoods selected for our Fifth Third Empowering Black Futures neighborhood investment program. The project’s frst phase includes the construction of 64 units, consisting of a mix of one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments that will be afordable for families earning between 30%-60% of the area’s median income. The location is along a bus line and within walking distance to the University of Cincinnati’s innovation corridor, a multimillion-dollar revitalization efort with mixed-use development. As part of our fnancial commitment to the project, the Fifth Third Community Development Co. provided a $9.4 million equity investment, and Fifth Third provided a $10.5 million construction loan. 74