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 essential to ensuring all communities and residents have access to safe, affordable credit when traditional financial institutions are not able to do so. These market-based institutions know their communities needs best and leverage private sector investment. Building bridges between the public and private sectors is what CDFIs do well and we need to preserve the expertise of these organizations by ensuring a robust funding of $324 million for the CDFI Fund.
CDFIs support small businesses in ways that traditional financial partners are unable to. From flexible financing that supports growth, stabilize operations, and boosts local employment, to providing advice in all areas of business managements, to being there for the business owners as humans whenever needed. CDFIs are integral to the well-functioning of the financial system and of the economy as a whole.
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.
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.