CDFIs are crucial to affordable housing.
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.
CDFIs are crucial to affordable housing.
CDFIs have a demonstrated track record of success: they often leverage every federal dollar to attract up to 12 times that amount in private investment, reaching borrowers that traditional banks overlook. Whether it’s a veteran-owned business in Montana, a farm in the Central Valley, or a childcare provider in the South Bronx, CDFIs meet communities where they are, providing not only loans but financial education, technical assistance, and long-term support. This is not a partisan issue. Nearly every congressional district in America benefits from the work of CDFIs, with 92% of House districts having at least one CDFI. CDFIs are an engine of local resilience-supporting job creation, small business formation, and upward mobility.
The CDFI Fund, and the organizations it serves, enable greater numbers of people to participate in the US economy in a positive way, creating jobs and businesses, while producing vital goods and services.
Our Native communities are very close knit and culturally dependent upon the community to hold those sacred ways in place. Our communities need the CDFIs as they better understand and serve the community members in a way that is critical to the success of home ownership, small business support and primarily teaching the outside world’s credit system and how it affects each member. We strive to strengthen the financial wellbeing of our communities where government and the outside world falls short.