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 work of CDFIs and the CDFI Fund is critical for so many small businesses, real estate developers, nonprofits, and communities across the United States.
I am a real estate broker and development consultant working with emerging developers, small businesses and nonprofits. Many of my clients cannot finance their projects with traditional debt and equity because they don’t come from generational wealth and because their projects are more challenging because they are in markets that are not achieving their full potential yet or meeting critical community needs that don’t produce quite as much profit. CDFI lending has stepped in the gap to solve dozens of critical projects that just need a little boost to get to the finish line, and CDFIs are critical partners to Platform’s work.