CDFI Fund Staff Celebrate 15 Year AnniversarySeptember 23, 2009

Washington, DC  In honor of its fifteen years of service in providing underserved communities with access to capital and tools for stimulating local economic development, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) is today hosting a day of service and providing volunteers to four area non-profits that have benefitted from CDFI awards.

"Today we renew our commitment to providing our most vulnerable communities with the tools necessary for economic development," said Michael Barr, Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. "For 15 years, the CDFI Fund has worked to revitalize communities around the country. The CDFI Fund's continued efforts provide the opportunity for all of our nation's communities to grow and prosper."

Fifteen years ago today, Congress created the CDFI Fund to promote economic revitalization and community development in the nation's underserved communities. The CDFI Fund continues to expand the ability of financial intermediaries to provide capital, credit and financial services to underserved, low-income populations and communities.

Since its creation, the CDFI Fund has helped communities to build a nationwide network of more than 800 CDFIs and awarded over $1.1 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations and financial institutions through its CDFI Program, Native Initiatives, and Bank Enterprise Award Program. It also has allocated $21 billion in New Markets Tax Credits to Community Development Entities to finance economic development and small business growth across the country.

"I am pleased to announce that the CDFI Fund is launching a year-long series of 15th anniversary related events and initiatives," said CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell. "We are committed to making a reality of our vision of an America in which all people have access to affordable credit, capital and financial services."

For more information on about the CDFI Fund, or to follow future 15th anniversary announcements and happenings, please visit http://www.cdfifund.gov/15thAnniversary.

Background on volunteer sites.

SOME  SOME (So Others Might Eat) is an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of Washington, D.C. It not only meets the immediate daily needs of the people it serves with food, clothing, and health care; but helps break the cycle of homelessness by offering services, such as affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment, and counseling, to the poor, the elderly and individuals with mental illness. (www.some.org)

SOME received over $4.2 in financing from the OpenDoor Housing Fund, a certified CDFI and CDFI Fund award recipient (CDFI Program).

Emergence Community Arts Collective is a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster a spirit of community in the Pleasant Plains neighborhood (Howard University) of Washington, DC through social activities, traditional arts classes, support groups and educational seminars. (www.ecacollective.org)

ECACollective received a $820,000 commercial real estate loan and a $50,000 line of credit from City First Bank of DC, a certified CDFI and CDE, and CDFI Fund award recipient (NMTC Program and BEA Program).

CentroNia  CentroNia is a nationally recognized, award-winning educational organization providing affordable, high quality education, professional development and family-support services in a bilingual, multicultural environment to more than 1,700 children, youth and families in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. (www.centronia.org)

CentroNia's has received over $400, 000 in financing from Partners for the Common Good, a Washington, D.C.-based certified CDFI and CDFI Fund award recipient (CDFI Program).

THEARC - The Town Hall Education, Arts & Recreation Campus or THEARC is a 110,000 square-foot world-class education arts & recreation campus located east of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. Ten cultural and social service agencies, in addition to a 365-seat theater, are based at THEARC, all of which share the goal of helping underserved children and adults reach their full potential. (www.thearcdc.org)

THEARC received $9.4 million in financing from City First Bank of DC, a certified CDFI and CDE, and CDFI Fund award recipient (NMTC Program and BEA Program).