CDFI Fund Anniversary Stories and Data

Built to Scale: Designing a Business with Scale in Mind
St. John Manor
Catonsville CO-OP brings together food, community, and local businesses
A Grand Opening Like No Other

Testimonials

I have chaired our local board and our foundation is extremely supportive of the difference [CDFI Fund awards] have made in the Dayton community!

-Michael M Parks, The Dayton Foundation, Dayton, OH

The purpose of CDFI funds are critical to the communities to be able to support people and programs such as affordable housing and financial literacy to improve the wellbeing of the community.

-Tamara Honaker, Launch Credit Union, Merritt Island, FL

CDFIs are critical to increasing access to capital in communities across the country. Here at Communities Unlimited, we are filling gaps that the market cannot fill. Leveraging the CDFI Fund, we provide lending services that are critical to basic infrastructure in rural places, sparking entrepreneurship in small towns, and deploying capital to increase investment in homes and property in rural areas. Our lending portfolio includes rural and regional water and wastewater systems, small business loans for unserved entrepreneurs who cannot access a loan from a traditional bank, and consumer loans for home improvement, private wells, and private septic systems in rural places. The best part about our lending services: our clients pay them off. These are not handouts but loans. CU’s lending services, through the CDFI Fund, are critical for increasing access to capital and driving economic growth in rural places.

-Ines Polonius, Communities Unlimited, Fayetteville, AR