CDFI Success Stories

For over 20 years, CDFIs have been making financial services accessible to underserved communities and populations across the country. Among their many achievements, CDFIs have financed improved access to affordable housing, critical community facilities, and schools. They have financed small and growing businesses. Through their efforts, millions of dollars have been leveraged for investment in communities often left out of the economic mainstream, creating jobs and opportunities. Below are some of their stories. You can also view success stories by state.

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‘I Use My Eyes to Speak’
Kyle uses a communication device with his eyes to speak. The AT Lab worked with Kyle to find a new device that works better for him and his care team.
“Built in Bremerton” program helps eliminate foreclosed and vacant, single-family homes
Community Frameworks initiated the “Built in Bremerton” program to help eliminate foreclosed, vacant, and distressed single-family homes in Bremerton, Washington. Through this acquisition-rehab sweat equity program, they have completed the rehabilitation and sale of 21, affordable, energy-efficient homes since 2013. Eleven of the homes were financed by Community Housing Capital (CHC) with a revolving $1 million line of credit.
$1 million on the street:’ With UofM grant, River City Capital helps businesses in underserved areas
Franklin is one of many Memphis business owners who have received a loan from RCC, the local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that’s an affiliate of Community Lift and certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Founded in 2011, RCC focuses on providing low-interest loans to businesses in underserved neighborhoods throughout the Mid-South — its average loan size is about $50,000. And the organization has made some recent moves to further fuel its growth.
$15 MM Construction Loan & $3.3 MM Permanent Loan Creates the 86-unit Valley View Apartments in San Luis, Arizona
Community Housing Capital (CHC) has provided Comite de Bien Estar (Comite) over $55 million in lending capital since 2009, including $27 million in Single-Family lending and $28 million for predevelopment, land acquisition, multi-family construction, and permanent lending. In its most recent project with Comite - the Valley View Apartments, CHC has been Comite's lending partner from the project's inception.
$6.3 Million Helps Create Workforce Housing in the Aftermath of Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma struck the Florida Keys on September 10, 2017, and left this chain of islands with 1,200 homes destroyed and an additional 3,000 homes significantly damaged. As part of the recovery effort, Rural Neighborhoods (RN) will create three new neighborhoods in Big Pine Key, Monroe County, Florida. Community Housing Capital (CHC) provided $6.3 million for construction and permanent loans to the three phases of the project, Seahorse Cottages at Big Pine Key, Seahorse Cottages II at Big Pine Key, and Avenues at Big Pine Key. Constructed to State required hurricane-resistant standards, the workforce housing will have 31 elevated single-story modular homes on podiums. The affordable rentals are reserved for tenants earning 80% area median income (AMI) and extremely low-income tenants earning up to 25% AMI.
12th Ave Arts
Capitol Hill is the most densely populated neighborhood in the Northwest, and it remains a rapidly growing population center. Recent years have brought dramatic gentrification to Capitol Hill, with massive development of high-end condominiums replacing older apartments and single family homes and leaving low-income residents with few housing options. Affordable office space and arts space is also becoming increasingly rare.
140 New Construction Senior Apts. serving 30%-80% AMI
DreamKey Partners, a leading nonprofit developer of affordable housing in Charlotte, North Carolina, has used $1,846,520 of its $13 million line of credit from Community Housing Capital to acquire a 6.3-acre site that will become the Johnston Oehler Senior Apartments. With low-income households currently priced out of Charlotte’s increasingly expensive rental market, the new construction project will create 140 apartments for seniors with household incomes from 30% to 80% area median income. The high-quality, new construction housing will offer an active lifestyle for the residents and a full-time professional property management staff that will serve onsite.
1911 Smoke House Barbeque
Thanks to a $20,000 loan awarded through the Trenton Small Business Emergency Loan Program during COVID-19, Maurice was able to quickly pivot his business and begin serving affordable family-style meals to customers.
20 garden-style apartments dedicated to low-income farm labor households in Albany, GA.
Located in southwest Georgia, Albany has a diverse mix of low- to moderate-income workers employed in the agriculture, service, trade, and manufacturing sectors. Wealth Watchers, Inc., located in Jacksonville, Florida, is a Certified Housing Development Organization (CHDO) dedicated to providing communities with the highest quality of affordable housing opportunities.
21c Durham
Standing tall and proud in the center of downtown Durham, 21c Museum Hotel is a multi-venue contemporary art museum offering more than 10,500 sq. ft. of art-filled exhibition and event space, a full-service boutique hotel with luxurious guest rooms, and home to Counting House restaurant.
2201 Washington Street
Mixed-use with Alternatives for Community and Environment
2941 Imperial Micro Homes
In 2021, Civic Community Partners made a $400,000 equity investment with Stand Up Properties to jointly develop a 15-unit naturally affordable rental housing project in Logan Heights. Each unit includes a kitchen, bathroom and balcony or patio. The project also includes ground floor community space for the tenants.
360 Peachtree
Located in downtown Atlanta, financing supported component of the overall planned development will consist of construction of an approx. 56,000 sq. ft. mixed-use/community facility space to support education and social services for homeless and low-income children. 2,000 sq. ft. of for-lease street front retail space is included.
39 Rainbow
39 Rainbow taps the commercial potential of one of the region’s largest and fasted growing campuses, the University of Kansas - Kansas City. Located across the street from the University of Kansas Medical Center, the project features urban-style design with retail and residential components, and an 83-room Holiday Inn Express. The first floor of the development will feature approximately 30,000 sq. ft. of new retail and restaurant space to serve traffic from the Hospital, Medical Center, the immediate neighborhood, and busy thoroughfares, such as Interstate 35.
470 Main Street
Renovation of a historic 5-story building which now serves as its headquarters in the center of downtown Fitchburg.