Financial Assistance Award will Support Healthy, Vibrant Communities
Cinnaire recently received a $900,000 Financial Assistance (FA) award from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The award will be used to provide creative loans and flexible financing to support low-income, distressed communities throughout Cinnaire’s footprint.
The CDFI Fund provides FA awards to allow CDFIs to sustain and expand their financial products and services. CDFIs that qualify for FA funding must match the award with funds from a non-federal source. To date, Cinnaire has received more than $3.8 million in FA awards.
“This award will support Cinnaire’s mission to ensure all people have access to the opportunities provided by living in healthy communities. We extend our gratitude to the CDFI Fund for continuing to provide resources that allow CDFIs to deliver much-needed investment to distressed communities and neighborhoods. Cinnaire is proud to work with CDFI partners across the nation to create jobs, spur community revitalization and make an impact by providing resources for families and individuals in need.”
Katey Forth, Cinnaire Lending president
The CDFI Fund awarded a total of $202.2 million for the FY 2018 CDFI Program Round. The awards will be used to enable CDFIs to increase lending and investment activity in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded over $1.96 billion in FA and TA awards through the CDFI Program.
Supporting Healthy, Vibrant Communities
Cinnaire has previously used FA awards to create lasting impact on communities throughout Cinnaire’s footprint. Examples include:
Eastern Market – Detroit, MI
Cinnaire Lending provided a loan to the Eastern Market Development Corporation to acquire 2.4 acres of property which will contain a mixed-use development with 60 units of mixed-income housing, including affordable units, and an urban agriculture center with classrooms, offices, labs, and hostel lodging for urban agriculture organizations and visitors. The project will support the Eastern Market’s mission to fortify the food sector as a pillar of regional economic growth and improve access to healthy, green, affordable and fair food choices in Detroit and throughout Southeast Michigan.
Harrison Park Apartments – Grand Rapids, MI
Cinnaire Lending provided a loan to support Harrison Park Apartments, a 45-unit affordable apartment community designed to serve families with children in Grand Rapids, MI. Developed by Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids, a non-profit housing organization serving West Michigan, Harrison Park Apartments answers the need for more affordable housing on the west side of Grand Rapids. Rising rents have pushed families out of the neighborhood, particularly those benefitting from the Challenge Scholars Program. The program, run by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, not only prepares students on the west side of Grand Rapids to be college-ready, but provides ‘last dollar’ scholarships for those students who graduate in good standing. In addition to serving Challenge Scholars families, twelve of the units will be reserved for homeless families who have fled domestic violence in a partnership with the YWCA. Cinnaire also provided a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) investment to support Harrison Park Apartments.
