We cannot abandon Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), who do measurable, positive work in our communities.
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.
We cannot abandon Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), who do measurable, positive work in our communities.
CDFIs fill crucial gaps in the housing and community development ecosystem, supporting the creation and preservation of affordable housing and vital community facilities that help low-income individuals, families and communities thrive and live with dignity.
The CDFI Fund helps us at Cooperative Federal provide programs for home ownership, small business, consumer credit and financial education for our community, which helps to strengthen the local economy through giving the public access to said services. During a time of high inflation and economic unease, it is more crucial than ever that we continue to be enabled to provide this aid. While I work for Cooperative Federal itself, I have also been a member for several years prior and their free financial education helped me directly to improve my financial situation. Without these programs, people who are already struggling and often cannot afford out of pocket financial education/counseling have nowhere to turn. If we as a country want to achieve greatness, we need to be serving the American people, not stripping them of their ability to raise themselves up!
CDFIs are most proximate to communities needs and provide responsible, flexible capital solutions that support new business starts, job creation / retention, financial acumen building and skills development, and delivery of critical goods and services to opportunity rich communities.