PA14 Stories and Data

Philly Builds Credit: A Financial Wellness Initiative
The Tirado Family
The Montanez Family
The Graeff‑Byrnes Family

Testimonials

CDFIs are an important to give access to those who can’t get access to capital from traditional banks and provides important Technical assistance to borrowers pre and post loan as needed.

-Lynn Cutler, WORC/EOF, Philadelphia, PA

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.

-Caitlin Solander, Baker Tilly, Pittsburgh, PA

Our CDFI is housed in a non-profit dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurial leadership within underserved communities to increase their economic mobility. CDFIs are crucial to this work and bridging the gap to help entrepreneurs access funding before being able to approach a traditional lender for a myriad of reasons such as lack of credit history, being underbanked or never banking, lacking access to financial literacy resources and education around borrowing process. Being able to combine training resources with microlending support enables our org to further serve these populations in a way that best meets their needs and creates economic growth and jobs within our local communities.

-Ariana Garcia, ASSETS PA, Lancaster, PA