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.
CDFI funds are frequently the only source of funding and lending available to small, scaled community-oriented development in Minneapolis. Without access to those opportunities companies like mine would not be able to accomplish our development goals and create mid-scale projects related to the arts and market rate affordable housing.
The CDFI Fund helps us at Cooperative Federal provide programs for home ownership, small business, consumer credit and financial education for our community, which helps to strengthen the local economy through giving the public access to said services. During a time of high inflation and economic unease, it is more crucial than ever that we continue to be enabled to provide this aid. While I work for Cooperative Federal itself, I have also been a member for several years prior and their free financial education helped me directly to improve my financial situation. Without these programs, people who are already struggling and often cannot afford out of pocket financial education/counseling have nowhere to turn. If we as a country want to achieve greatness, we need to be serving the American people, not stripping them of their ability to raise themselves up!
CDFIs fill a real need for underserved and impoverished communities. The need for affordable housing is making living difficult for most Americans. CDFIs responsibly use federal and private funds. In NH, CDFIs are serving both construction and immediate home placement needs.
CDFIs provide responsible and affordable loans to individuals, businesses, and organizations that are unable to obtain financing from conventional banks – not because they aren’t worthy of a loan, but because their risk profile doesn’t fit the more rigid criteria used by conventional banks. This is an essential service for making sure loan capital reaches deserving borrowers with unconventional loan applications. And because CDFIs disburse loans instead of grants, they offer a sustainable solution to financing and teach borrowers how to manage budgets and pay back their loans.