[The CDFI Fund] provides a vital funding source which enables our organization to sustain and start-up businesses in our rural SD communities. Without that support, our rural communities would die because there would be nothing to keep our young families in the communities. The opportunities they need for their careers would be gone.
We are a nonprofit Chamber of Commerce that does microlending for small businesses. We work with a CDFI bank and are trying to get CDFI certification.
I support CDFIs because they provide needed capital for small businesses and first-time homebuyers. This capital allows people to build wealth and/or provide a product/service to their community, which leads to economic prosperity for the local area. Because the financing is provided as a loan, clients are equally invested in the success of their home/business.