CommunityWorks Receives $600,000 from CDFI Fund

Local nonprofit is one of three organizations in South Carolina awarded funding by U.S. Dept. of Treasury

GREENVILLE, SC – October 9, 2013 – CommunityWorks Carolina (CWC) announced that it received $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund. The award will allow CWC to increase its loan fund that provides financing for affordable housing, small business development and other community initiatives in the Upstate of South Carolina. The CDFI Fund awarded over $172 million to 191 organizations who serve low-income families and economically distressed communities across the nation. CWC was one out of only three organizations in South Carolina to receive this exclusive and direct federal support.

“We are grateful to receive this award from the CDFI Fund, which has allowed us to expand our programs and services to meet the needs of low-wealth families and communities in the Upstate.” said Deborah McKetty, Executive Director of CWC. “The families we serve have limited access to traditional financial institutions, so our goal is to create safe opportunities to build savings, credit and assets.”

In 2011, CommunityWorks Carolina became the Upstate’s first and only certified CDFI. As a community-lending nonprofit, CWC offers a variety of affordable housing, personal financial stability and community economic development programs. Services include down payment assistance for first time homebuyers, community development loans, micro-business loans, credit builder loans, and matched savings accounts to save for a car, house, college education or small business. CWC has expanded its programs and services beyond Greenville to other counties in the Upstate.

Since its inception, CWC has assisted more than 636 families and generated over $68 million in local economic development in the community. CWC attributes its continuous growth to its CDFI certification, and its success would not be possible without the support of community partners. CWC remains dedicated in its mission of “Building People and Places,” and will continue to serve as a catalyst in supporting economic growth for low-wealth families and communities in the Upstate—now and for years to come.

To date, CDFIs, such as CommunityWorks, have financed more than 60,000 affordable housing units and created approximately 35,000 jobs across the nation. 

About CommunityWorks Carolina

Established in 2008, CommunityWorks Carolina is a non-profit organization and certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that supports affordable housing and community development as a critical vehicle for fostering stable families and healthy communities. CWC strives to build people and places in the Upstate of South Carolina by educating, lending and investing in their potential. CWC offers a variety of assistance programs including: Downpayment Assistance, Affordable Mortgages, Community Development Loans, Microbusiness Loans, and Matched Savings Individual Development Accounts.

About the CDFI Program

Through the CDFI Program’s Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of for-profit and non-profit community based lending organizations known as Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs. These organizations, certified as CDFIs by the U.S. Treasury Department, serve rural and urban low-income people and communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services.

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded over $1.8 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the Bank Enterprise Awards Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program, and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $36.5 billion in tax credit authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program.