Washington, DC – Today, Vice President Kamala Harris and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo announced that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has awarded over $1.73 billion in grants to 603 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the country through the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program (CDFI ERP). These funds will strengthen the ability of CDFIs to help low- and moderate-income communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and invest in long-term prosperity.
Authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260) to respond to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, CDFI ERP is designed to:
- Provide funding to Certified CDFIs to expand lending, grant making and investment activities in low- to moderate-income communities and to borrowers with significant unmet capital and financial services needs that have experienced disproportionate economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Catalyze growth in the financial and organizational capacity of CDFIs for the purpose of carrying out equitable recovery activities.
“When we invest in community lenders, we help build a future where all people—no matter who they are or where they start—have the resources they need not only to succeed but to thrive, said Vice President Kamala Harris. “These grants—representing the largest CDFI grant program in history—will enable hundreds of community lenders to invest in small businesses and entrepreneurs, and also provide home loans for families, financial services for local nonprofits, and capital for community organizations.”
“These grant funds will be transformative for grantees that are building a more equitable, resilient economy, along with helping sustain our strong economic recovery” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “These critical resources will allow mission-driven lenders to expand access to capital in financially underserved communities, which will help increase contributions to long-term economic growth.”
“Today’s awards represent a truly historic opportunity to accelerate efforts in America’s distressed and underserved communities to overcome the persistent economic effects of the COVD-19 pandemic,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris. “The more than $1.73 billion in CDFI ERP funding that is being awarded to CDFIs will be utilized to implement initiatives that, among other things, increase availability of financing and capital for small businesses, promote affordable housing, and improve accessibility to loans that help families make ends meet—all of which were compromised by the pandemic, and are vital to community resilience, sustainability and economic prosperity.”
The CDFI ERP grant funds may be used to support lending related to small businesses and microenterprises, community facilities, affordable housing, commercial real estate and intermediary lending to non-profits and CDFIs. The funds can also be used for financial services, development services to support borrowers and operational support for the CDFI grant recipient.
CDFI ERP Award Recipients committed to devote their Awards in the following areas:
- 222 Recipients committed to serve Low- or Moderate-Income Majority Minority Census Tracts received a total of $705.6 million in awards;
- 179 Recipients committed to serve Minority individuals or to Minority-owned or Controlled businesses received a total of $420.6 million in awards;
- 134 Recipients committed to serve Persistent Poverty Counties, Native Areas and/or U.S. Territories received a total of $441.5 million in awards;
- 40 Recipients committed to serve small businesses and farms received a total of $99.7 million in awards; and
- 28 Recipients committed to increase the dollar volume of Financial Products closed and Grants made by their organizations in ERP-Eligible Geographies received a total of $67.6 million in awards.
The 603 CDFI ERP Award Recipients are headquartered in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Certified CDFIs can be one of a variety of financial institution types, including banks, credit unions, loan funds, or venture capital providers. The CDFI ERP Award Recipients include:
- Loan funds: 264 organizations receiving $615.5 million in awards;
- Credit unions: 203 organizations receiving $590.3 million in awards;
- Banking entities: 129 organizations receiving $513.7 million in awards; and
- Venture capital funds: 7 organizations receiving $15.5 million in awards.
View more information about all of the CDFI ERP awards below.
CDFI ERP Award Resources
About the CDFI Fund
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $7.4 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through: the Bank Enterprise Award Program; the Capital Magnet Fund; the CDFI Rapid Response Program; the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, including the Healthy Food Financing Initiative; the Economic Mobility Corps; the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program; and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $71 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and closed guaranteed bonds for more than $2.1 billion through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.
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