Small businesses are the backbone of the US economy. One estimate is that Small businesses
Small businesses are the backbone of the US economy. One estimate is that Small businesses
CDFIs are essential to ensuring all communities and residents have access to safe, affordable credit when traditional financial institutions are not able to do so. These market-based institutions know their communities needs best and leverage private sector investment. Building bridges between the public and private sectors is what CDFIs do well and we need to preserve the expertise of these organizations by ensuring a robust funding of $324 million for the CDFI Fund.
The nonprofit community depends upon the work of CDFIs to help with investing in communities that are most in need. Whether that be affordable housing, community facilities, community health centers, and economic development, CDFIs can provide the capital that otherwise would not support such critical projects. Particularly important are the investments that CDFIs contribute to rural communities, and other under-invested areas, such as Appalachia. For decades, CDFIs in some of the most economically distressed regions of the country have been addressing the employment and housing, banking and infrastructure needs of local people and places. From the development of entrepreneurs who create jobs to the expansion of safe affordable housing; from increased access to financial services to more readily accessible drinking water and public infrastructure; CDFIs leverage the power of finance to import capital into communities and regions that otherwise suffer from disinvestment. Through these actions, CDFIs strengthen local economies, generate wealth that sticks, and foster agency and power among local people to determine their own destiny.