CommunityWorks receives $720,000 from U.S. Treasury
September 20, 2017
CommunityWorks (CW) has been awarded a $720,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund to bolster its community development lending efforts. The CDFI Fund awarded $208.7 million to 303 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that serve low-income families and economically distressed communities across the nation. CW was one of only three organizations in South Carolina to receive this highly competitive federal grant.
CommunityWorks will use most of the funds to support its Affordable Housing Loan Program which provides loans up to $500,000 to developers and governmental entities to fund acquisition, short-term bridge financing, development, construction and preservation of affordable housing in our community. Grant funds will also be used for CW’s Community Advantage SBA Loan Program which provides loans up to $250,000 to support small business owners, including those that may not qualify for traditional financing elsewhere.
“As CommunityWorks approaches our 10th year of fostering economic development in underserved communities, we are honored to once again be selected as recipients of the CDFI Fund and will continue to work hard to support the economic well-being of low-wealth families and communities,” said Deborah McKetty, President and CEO of CommunityWorks.
About CommunityWorks
CommunityWorks was established in 2008 as a local housing trust fund through a partnership between the City of Greenville, United Way of Greenville County and Greenville County Redevelopment Authority. This group worked together to support affordable housing and community development as a critical vehicle for fostering stable families and healthy communities. Since that time, CommunityWorks has transformed into a non-profit financial organization and certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that is committed to empowering people to become financially stable through financial education, lending and investing. Since its inception, CW has generated over $135 million in local economic impact and has provided 25,000 hours of training and coaching, connected 459 first time homebuyers with down payment assistance, provided over $2.2 million loans to startups and existing small businesses, and deployed $4.6 million in affordable housing and community loans that have created or preserved over 330 affordable housing units.
To learn more about CommunityWorks, visit their website http://communityworkscarolina.org/
About CDFIs
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2.5 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, the Native American CDFI Assistance Program, and the Bank Enterprise Award Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $50.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, closed guaranteed bonds in the amount of $1.1 billion through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, and awarded more than $171 million through the Capital Magnet Fund.
To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.
