Huntington's foundation commits $1 million to Atlanta's Westside Future Fund after the Cadence merger

The Huntington Bank Community Foundation has committed $1 million to Westside Future Fund, a nonprofit working in five historic neighborhoods on Atlanta's Westside, The Huntington National Bank said on October 26, 2026. The bank said the gift builds on earlier support for the group from Cadence Bank, which merged with Huntington this year.

The money will be split equally among three of the fund's programs for people earning less than 80% of the median family income. It will pay for down payment assistance for home buyers, rental assistance, an anti-displacement tax fund, and financial literacy education and counseling.

Westside Future Fund was created in 2014 to revitalize Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center, English Avenue, Just Us and Vine City, with the stated aim of restoring the area without displacing its longtime residents. Randy Schultz, Huntington's regional president for Atlanta, sits on the fund's board, the release says. He said the bank was "proud to carry forward Cadence's relationship with Westside Future Fund."

A merger promise to keep Cadence's foundation

Cadence Bank, a Mississippi-chartered bank based in Tupelo, agreed to merge into The Huntington National Bank in an agreement dated October 26, 2025, which Cadence filed with the Federal Reserve and Huntington later furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The combination was completed in February 2026, according to Huntington.

The agreement included a clause on giving. After closing, Huntington "shall maintain the Cadence Bank Foundation" and use any funds in it at the time of the merger for community development and reinvestment and for civic and charitable activities within Cadence's footprint as it stood just before the merger.

The Atlanta announcement names the Huntington Bank Community Foundation as the donor. It does not say whether any of the $1 million comes from money the Cadence Bank Foundation held when the banks combined.

A run of announcements in Cadence's old markets

The Atlanta gift is the latest of several Huntington announcements in cities where Cadence operated. On September 30, Huntington announced $300,000 from the Huntington Bank Community Foundation for Memphis: a $250,000, three-year commitment to United Housing for down payment and closing cost help and homebuyer education, and a $50,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis for its after-school technical training center. That release also said the foundation's investment built on years of partnership between United Housing and Cadence.

On October 7, Huntington announced more than $40 million to modernize its regional headquarters and operations center in Tupelo, where Cadence had its head office. That is an investment in the bank's own buildings rather than a grant, and the bank said the Mississippi Development Authority is supporting the operations center project in part with state economic development incentives.

The regulatory backdrop

Bank mergers are also judged partly on how the banks serve their communities. Under the Community Reinvestment Act, passed in 1977, federal bank regulators must encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of the places where they operate, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods among them, and the Federal Reserve says it considers a bank's record under the law when it reviews applications for mergers, acquisitions and new branches. In the merger agreement, Cadence and The Huntington National Bank each said they had an "outstanding" rating at their most recent examination under the act.

Huntington describes itself as a regional bank holding company with $288 billion in assets, based in Columbus, Ohio, and with about 1,400 branches in 21 states.