These funds are vital to increase the capacity to serve low to moderate income families and their purchase of safe, fit, and affordable housing.
Thank you to our partners at Inclusive and CDBA for sharing data on CDFI Bank and CDFI Credit Union branch locations. In addition, about 100 of our CDFI Stories come from OFN’s story database.
These funds are vital to increase the capacity to serve low to moderate income families and their purchase of safe, fit, and affordable housing.
CDFIs provide responsible and affordable loans to individuals, businesses, and organizations that are unable to obtain financing from conventional banks – not because they aren’t worthy of a loan, but because their risk profile doesn’t fit the more rigid criteria used by conventional banks. This is an essential service for making sure loan capital reaches deserving borrowers with unconventional loan applications. And because CDFIs disburse loans instead of grants, they offer a sustainable solution to financing and teach borrowers how to manage budgets and pay back their loans.
The CDFI FA/TA funding is critical to making projects happen and creating opportunities for employment. The NMTC program is critical to important real estate projects in areas like Opportunity Zones and other under invested areas.
Mary Stoick from Sunrise Bank in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the reason my family’s business, which had been in operation for 71 years, is still thriving. We were on the verge of collapse, and being evicted from our old location at that point made it even more challenging. In a desperate attempt to save our business, I decided to take a risky gamble and enter the food truck business. We were incredibly fortunate with the outcome of that decision. While our food truck business was thriving, we faced significant difficulties in finding a lender with fair pricing. Mary informed us that unfortunately, all the allocated funds for their tax credit loan had been exhausted, and they would no longer be able to provide us with funding through that avenue. She emphasized the slim chances of success, urging me to let it go, but I refused to give up. I relentlessly pursued her for days, and finally, something gave way. There were just enough funds to allow us to continue our family legacy. We are now approaching 80 years old, and I have a son. If he chooses to follow in our footsteps, he could potentially extend our business history to 125 years. None of this would have been possible without Mary and Sunrise Bank. This is not an exaggerated or fabricated story; it’s a true account of my life. Mary stands out among many as one of the few who genuinely cares for her customers, making her a rare gem. I sincerely hope that this allocation goes through so that she can continue to do for others what she has done for me.