After coming from several years working in for-profit corporations into a CDFI, I’ve come to appreciate the real benefits CDFIs provide to communities at all levels. CDFIs provide consumer, commercial, mortgage loans, housing development, community facilities when needed, and more creative solutions.
I have watched how CDFIs support small business owners and home owners where banks and credit unions could not. The amount banks charge is often above what people can pay, CDFIs that are nonprofits even the playing field for them by investing in the people and not company profits.
CDFIs provide critical support to low- to moderate-income communities in the form of loans and technical assistance. This support provides individuals and businesses unable to access traditional financing the opportunity to build their financial acumen, responsibly manage debt while building credit scores and wealth, and eventually graduate to accessing traditional banking products. In the meantime, these individuals are able to start or expand businesses, become homeowners, purchase vehicles, and access capital to cover emergency situations. CDFIs played a critical role with this activity during the pandemic and are part of the essential fabric when it comes to uplifting local economies and providing individuals with a path to the American dream of homeownership and prosperity in a way that promotes self-sufficiency and self-reliance.