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Making History: $142.3 Million for 155 Communities Nationwide

July 19, 2011 at 2:30 PM ET by Sandra Salstrom
Summary: 
Through the Community Development Financial Institution Fund, the Treasury will distribute over $100 million to economically distressed communities.

In the single largest round of awards in the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund's history, Treasury will distribute a total of $142,302,667 to 155 financial institutions serving economically distressed communities across the United States. CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell joined Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Danny Davis in Chicago yesterday to make the historic announcement.

Danny Davis speaks CDFI

CDFI Director Donna Gambrell and Senator Dick Durbin look on as Rep. Danny Davis speaks at the event in Chicago. [Photo credit: Steve Becker, beckermedia.com]

The 2011 awards were given to organizations headquartered in 40 states and the District of Columbia through the CDFI Fund’s cornerstone program, the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, and touch both rural and urban communities.

They will help specialized community-based financial institutions spur local economic growth and expand access to affordable financial products and services.  Chicago’s Fulton-Carrol Center, a small business incubator that houses almost 120 entrepreneurs and served as the backdrop for yesterday's national award announcement, is just one of many examples of how CDFIs can play a critical role in helping small business owners spur job creation and economic growth in economically distressed communities across the country.

As Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin said, “Every community deserves to have access to basic financial products and services, from bank accounts to affordable home and car loans. The CDFI Program provides access to rural and urban communities across the country by investing in local financial institutions that serve these communities.”

In Chicago, the organizations receiving these awards are doing exactly that. Because of these funds, they will be eligible for larger loans from major banks, which they can then use to make below-market loans to non-profit projects like a charter elementary school, affordable rental housing and a savings and loan association that works with local small businesses.

For more information on the CDFI Program, please visit www.cdfifund.gov. Click HERE to view a list of awardees, by city, receiving CDFI Fund investments.