I cannot state strongly enough how important CDFIs have been to my community and to the country as a whole. They rely in part — as they should — on federal financial support. Please release funds for use by the many CDFIs in the USA.
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.
I cannot state strongly enough how important CDFIs have been to my community and to the country as a whole. They rely in part — as they should — on federal financial support. Please release funds for use by the many CDFIs in the USA.
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.
CDFIs fill an important financing gap to help meet the needs of Americans including housing development, community improvements, nonprofit and health infrastructure, and small business. The CDFI Fund is a critical investment in America’s future.
CDFIs are valuable because of their interaction with communities and flexible products and services. They can do things midsize and large banks can’t do.