Local Affordable Housing Advocate Receives Additional Funding to Create Jobs
July 16, 2012
CHARLESTON, SC – July 12, 2012 – A second grant from Create Jobs for USA will allow Lowcountry Housing Trust to make greater strides in adding more jobs in the Lowcountry. Create Jobs for USA, a collaboration between Starbucks and Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), presented Lowcountry Housing Trust its first grant in February for $20,000. The additional funding brings the total investment from the fund to $34,500.
Lowcountry Housing Trust is a North Charleston-based community lender dedicated to encouraging and funding affordable housing in the coastal region of South Carolina. The funding from OFN will help Lowcountry Housing Trust create and sustain jobs in the area as part of a national campaign to support community businesses in underserved communities.
“We’re pleased that OFN recognizes the important work that CDFIs are doing, and honored that Create Jobs for USA has decided to support us with this additional grant,” says Michelle Mapp, executive director of Lowcountry Housing Trust. “Create Jobs for USA is unprecedented for the CDFI industry, shining a national spotlight on our work, and this grant will help us to create and sustain jobs in the Lowcountry.”
Funding from Create Jobs for USA has already been dispersed to the local community. Lowcountry Housing Trust recently made a $250,000 loan to BCD Affordable Housing, LLC to purchase and rehabilitate a six-unit apartment complex in downtown Charleston. Not only will this project create housing opportunities for low and moderate income families, it has created seven direct jobs and three indirect jobs from the nearby neighborhood.
Lowcountry Housing Trust was the first community development financial institution (CDFI) in South Carolina to receive a grant from the fund since the program began allocating awards in November 2011. Create Jobs for USA pools donations from Starbucks customers, partners/employees, concerned citizens and additional corporate partners (Google Offers, Banana Republic and Citi) into a nationwide fund, held and managed by OFN, for community business lending. Donors who contribute $5 or more will receive a red, white and blue wristband with the message “Indivisible.” The wristbands are individually handmade in the USA and all component materials are manufactured by U.S. suppliers, so the effort is also helping support American manufacturing jobs.
Since Nov. 1, 2011, Create Jobs for USA has been collecting donations at www.CreateJobsforUSA.org and at nearly 7,000 company-operated Starbucks across the country. 100% of the donations will support organizations like Lowcountry Housing Trust for job creation and retention across the U.S. To date, the program has raised over $11.5 million from institutional and individual donors.
About Lowcountry Housing Trust
Lowcountry Housing Trust’s mission is to build vibrant, sustainable communities by increasing the availability of affordable housing and to act as a catalyst to meet the fundamental needs of underserved neighborhoods. LHT finances projects that provide access to essential services, increase the quality and availability of neighborhood facilities, create employment opportunities, attract additional investment and strengthen the social and economic fabric of the community. Since its inception in 2004, LHT has infused $13.7M in financing to developers that has facilitated more than $121M in community development projects; funding has created or retained 2,757 jobs, 852 housing units, and provided a safe, decent and affordable place to call home for 2,130 individuals and families.
So far this year, LHT has received funding totaling $750,000 from various sources including Create Jobs for USA ($34,500), Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union ($100,000), Wells Fargo ($250,000) and the Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation ($100,000). For more information about Lowcountry Housing Trust, visit www.lowcountryhousingtrust.org.
About Opportunity Finance Network
Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the national network of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)—private financial institutions that are 100% dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low‐income, low‐wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream. CDFIs in the OFN network serve all 50 states, and OFN Member CDFIs originated more than $23.2 billion in financing in urban, rural, and Native communities through 2009. More information is available at: www.opportunityfinance.net.
About Create Jobs for USA
Starbucks and Opportunity Finance Network have joined forces to help create and sustain jobs in communities across the country. Create Jobs for USA is a bold initiative to spark new financing to community businesses so they can hire and preserve jobs. Learn more or donate now at: www.createjobsforusa.org.
