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.
CDFIs are critical to driving real estate development in underserved communities and during challenging economic times. We have developed more than $100 M in projects using CDFI financing and it is a critical component to the capital stack, as well as important for delivering transformative projects to communities across the country.
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.