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.
As a former executive of a CDFI I saw firsthand the job creation and the dreams of many clients supported by our organization. We hired amazing financial mission driven talent and we supported hard working entrepreneurs who were seeking opportunities in their community and for their families. The recent EO will not make America great again, it will hurt Americans who are resilient, innovative and a fabric of their communities.
I am a Board Member of a Native American CDFI that serves Wabanaki Tribes and tribal members in Maine. It’s been quite concerning of the number of threats to our services by the Trump Administration. My hope is that these threats are no longer a hinderance to our daily services particularly the issue of federal funding freeze.
Since 2008, CDFI Sustainable Neighborhoods has lent over $600 million to New York State homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. Our lending programs have stabilized tens of thousands of households, thus preventing family displacement that leads to personal financial hardship and expenditures of substantial government funding needed to prevent or address homelessness across New York’s rural, suburban, and urban regions.
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.