Last week, Cinnaire joined forces with the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), a network of more than 90 national Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to participate in Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. Advocacy Day was an opportunity for CDFIs from across the country to gather in the capitol to meet with members of Congress to discuss how CDFIs impact communities by investing in and providing access to responsible, affordable financial resources. With more than 100 CDFIs in attendance, Advocacy Day provided an opportunity for Cinnaire to engage with CDFIs nationwide to broaden awareness and promote equitable community development.
CDFI investments create jobs, support small business, build affordable housing, provide healthcare and more nationwide. The goal of Advocacy Day was to bring awareness to Congressional representatives of the value of CDFI’s and encourage them to fund the CDFI Fund at $250M for FY2018.
Cinnaire’s Susan Frank, Katey Forth and Kellie Green met with Congressional representatives from Michigan, Minnesota, Delaware and Wisconsin to advocate for CDFI Fund appropriations.
Cinnaire has invested over $3.7B in both urban and rural communities across Michigan and throughout the company’s nine state footprint. These investments have leveraged over $7B in community impact, financed over 500 community development loans and created or preserved over 670 housing developments. As a result, Cinnaire has provided over 47,000 affordable homes, supported over 65,000 jobs and served over 101,000 individuals.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts OFN put into organizing this opportunity for CDFIs to share our success stories with members of Congress,” said Mark McDaniel, Cinnaire President & CEO. “CDFIs have a successful track record of leveraging each $1 provided by the CDFI Fund to create an additional $8-$10 of private investment in communities across the country. Cinnaire staff enjoyed connecting with CDFI professionals that share our mission to serve as advocates for low-income people and communities. We value the time congressional members spent listening to the important work CDFIs are doing and applaud the bipartisan efforts to support the CDFI Fund Funding.”
