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.
CDFIs are mission-driven financial institutions rooted in community. They exist to expand economic participation, particularly in places that have long been excluded from traditional financing systems. In many ways, BII has operated with a CDFI mindset from the start: investing in local entrepreneurs, supporting community-owned enterprises, and helping to close persistent gaps in access to capital.
CDFIs provide critical support to low- to moderate-income communities in the form of loans and technical assistance. This support provides individuals and businesses unable to access traditional financing the opportunity to build their financial acumen, responsibly manage debt while building credit scores and wealth, and eventually graduate to accessing traditional banking products. In the meantime, these individuals are able to start or expand businesses, become homeowners, purchase vehicles, and access capital to cover emergency situations. CDFIs played a critical role with this activity during the pandemic and are part of the essential fabric when it comes to uplifting local economies and providing individuals with a path to the American dream of homeownership and prosperity in a way that promotes self-sufficiency and self-reliance.
CDFIs provided necessary funding and support to communities, including small businesses. Economic opportunity is the path to a unified society.
We are a Native CDFI serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western NC. Our work here is critical to supporting new business creation, small business growth, job creation and retention, and housing security for tribal members who have historically endured economic hardship and lack of adequate banking and capital resources. Not to be lumped in with the myriad ways government-funded projects and organizations waste tax dollars, our industry has proven itself a superior investment for the U.S. taxpayers and is one our elected officials should be proud to support.