The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded 32 organizations nearly $91.5 million in grants for the development of affordable housing and community facilities in low-income communities, according to a recent release from the department.
The report states that these awards were made through the fiscal year 2016 round of the Capital Magnet Fund, and they will also support financing for the preservation, rehabilitation, development or purchase of affordable housing for low-income communities as well as related economic development and community service facilities such as day care centers, workforce development centers and health care clinics.
“Affordable housing remains out of reach for far too many Americans,” said Antonio Weiss, Counselor to Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. “This funding will enable organizations across the country to expand access to affordable housing and help meet the critical needs of thousands of families.”
The department states that these 32 awardees will collectively serve 37 states and the District of Columbia. Additionally, the report states that nine of these awardees will invest 50 percent or more of their awards in non-metropolitan areas. More specifically, the report says that of the 32 awardees, 23 are classified as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and nine of the awardees are classified as non-profit housing organizations. The department notes that these 32 awardees were selected after a merit-based competitive review of applications that were submitted from 125 organizations for awards in this round of the Capital Magnet Fund.
“The impact of this program will be tremendous,” said CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan. “The program requires recipients to leverage $10 of housing and economic development investments for every $1 of federal funds meaning today’s awards will support over $900 million of investment in low-income communities.”
The report says that since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the NACA Program, the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, and the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program. In addition, the department states that the CDFI Fund has allocated $43.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and $852 million has been guaranteed in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.