CDFI Fund: 25 Years Revitalizing Communities and Providing Access to Opportunity Where It’s Needed Most

Twenty-five years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 into law, establishing the CDFI Fund. The legislation, proposed by President Clinton and championed in Congress by Senator Don Riegle (D-MI), sought to increase access to capital for small businesses, affordable housing, the availability of commercial real estate, and human development for low-income people and communities.

During the bill’s signing ceremony held at the White House on September 23, 1994, the President opened his remarks by saying he “…had dreamed of this day for a long time, the possibility to sign this act into law, and more importantly, to unleash the energies of millions of Americans to long denied access to the mainstream economics of our country.”

Since that time, the CDFI Fund Programs, have far exceeded the statutory goals, revitalizing some of the hardest hit communities and assisting hundreds of thousands of Americans underserved by traditional financial institutions. Those programs include the Financial Assistance (FA) and Technical Assistance (TA) programs, the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program, Capital Magnet Fund, and the Bank Enterprise Awards (BEA), the CDFI Bond Guarantee program, and New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC).

We will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the CDFI Fund all this week (9/23-9/29) by highlighting the impact of CDFIs nationwide. Please join in this celebration and social media effort by sharing your CDFI story using #CDFIFund25.

The CDFI Fund is also holding a Community Development Advisory Board Meeting and Reception at Treasury today. You may view the public meeting as a live webcast. You do not need to register to view the webcast. The webcast will also be archived and available for viewing a few days after the meeting.

Stay tuned for more CDFI stories and blog posts throughout the week on the CDFI Coalition Blog, Facebook, and Twitter!