CDFIs are a critical link for many low-income communities and individuals for financing that is not available from conventional sources.
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.
CDFIs are a critical link for many low-income communities and individuals for financing that is not available from conventional sources.
I represent Northwest Access Fund, a CDFI serving Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. NWAF offers people with disabilities customized loans, financial coaching, and other resources to promote access to assistive technology, independence, financial resilience, and life opportunities. We are helping people with disabilities and seniors who lack the ability to secure financing to afford crucial assistive technologies and modifications – hearing aids, dentures, wheelchairs, adaptive vehicles, and home modifications. We could not to this vital work without the investment from the CDFI Fund.
CDFIs are mission-driven financial institutions rooted in community. They exist to expand economic participation, particularly in places that have long been excluded from traditional financing systems. In many ways, BII has operated with a CDFI mindset from the start: investing in local entrepreneurs, supporting community-owned enterprises, and helping to close persistent gaps in access to capital.
The work of CDFIs and the CDFI Fund is critical for so many small businesses, real estate developers, nonprofits, and communities across the United States.