Department of Treasury, Washington, D.C. (Source: AdobeStock)
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has awarded a record $1.73 billion in grant money for more than 600 CDFIs across the country, officials announced Monday. Of that amount, nearly $600 million will go to 203 credit unions.
Monday's award announcement from Vice President Kamala Harris and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo stated that the funding is intended to help aid communities that have experienced disproportional economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"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," the statement read.
Vice President Harris said, "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. 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 non-profits and capital for community organizations."
According to the U.S. Treasury, the 603 CDFI ERP Award recipients are headquartered in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.
The breakdown of CDFI ERP Award recipients included the following:
- 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.
- Venture capital funds: Seven organizations receiving $15.5 million in awards.
"These grant funds will be transformative for grantees that are building a more equitable, resilient economy, along with helping sustain our strong economic recovery," Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said. "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 COVID-19 pandemic," CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris said. "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."
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
