U.S. Treasury Awards CDFI Friendly Bloomington $300,000 Technical Assistance Grant
CDFI Friendly Bloomington (CFB), a regional nonprofit organization working to increase community development finance institution investment in 13 Indiana counties, was recently awarded a $300,000 Technical Assistance (TA) grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund. On November 21, award announcements were made, benefitting 246 organizations across the United States with $72.6 million in capacity-building grant funds to provide financial products and services to low-income and underserved communities across the country. This is the second award for CFB, which also received a $125,000 grant in 2021.
“This investment from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund is a recognition of the continued impact CFB is having in bringing needed investment to the Indiana Uplands region,” said CFB Board President Tina Peterson. “With these resources, CFB is positioned to increase outreach to communities and organizations across the region and to share how community development financial institutions (CDFIs) can help expand opportunities for affordable housing, small business, and access to important services, such as childcare.”
With help from this grant, in the coming years, CFB will continue to connect projects in its region to the network of more than 1,400 CDFIs nationwide to unlock financing for people and places that have been under-financed or excluded. Since its founding, CFB has attracted more than $25 million in investment from CDFIs across the country, resulting in more than $57 million in total projects impacting 370 units of affordable housing and several small business enterprises.
“Investment from CDFIs is roughly $714 per person nationwide, but in our 13-county region, it is just about $49 per person,” said CFB Executive Director John Zody. “Our mission as an organization and regional community development partner is to make sure the Indiana Uplands area is not left behind when it comes to opportunities to increase access to project financing and to help fill gaps when they occur. This grant will help us expand our reach to work with communities to do just that.”
Learn more about CDFI Friendly Bloomington at https://cdfifriendlybtown.org/