August 5, 2025 Stories and Data

Built to Scale: Designing a Business with Scale in Mind
St. John Manor
Catonsville CO-OP brings together food, community, and local businesses
A Grand Opening Like No Other

Testimonials

I support Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) because their mission aligns with promoting economic opportunity and strengthening underserved communities. The CDFI Fund, part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, aims to expand economic opportunity by supporting CDFIs, which are entities dedicated to providing financial products and services to populations and areas that traditionally lack sufficient access to these resources. This includes financing homes, supporting small businesses, and investing in local community facilities. CDFIs play a significant role in fostering community development by offering responsible and transparent financial products and services. They ensure that these offerings are affordable, safe, and align with their mission to improve the social and economic conditions of their Target Markets. Additionally, their efforts in promoting transparency, fair practices, and compliance with laws further demonstrate their commitment to community upliftment. The support provided to CDFIs is crucial because they specialize in addressing gaps in access to capital and financial services, thereby promoting economic, housing, and social opportunities in underserved areas. This support helps create a robust network of community development lenders and financial service providers who can sustainably impact low-income communities.

-Johnson Hor, Northeast Community Federal Credit Union, San Francisco, CA

Our CDFI is housed in a non-profit dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurial leadership within underserved communities to increase their economic mobility. CDFIs are crucial to this work and bridging the gap to help entrepreneurs access funding before being able to approach a traditional lender for a myriad of reasons such as lack of credit history, being underbanked or never banking, lacking access to financial literacy resources and education around borrowing process. Being able to combine training resources with microlending support enables our org to further serve these populations in a way that best meets their needs and creates economic growth and jobs within our local communities.

-Ariana Garcia, ASSETS PA, Lancaster, PA

The work that CDFIs do helps us all realize the American Dream. They stimulate the economy, locally and nationally, and give credence to the idea of picking oneself up by one’s bootstraps to make a better tomorrow for their community.

-Nadia Doubiany, Friedman Associates, Iowa City, IA