CDFI Friendly Bloomington awarded $300K federal grant
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A regional nonprofit organization that works to spur affordable housing and economic growth in the Indiana Uplands region has received a $300,000 U.S. Department of Treasury grant.
CDFI Friendly Bloomington, or CFB, says the grant from the Treasury’s Department’s CDFI Fund will help provide financing for projects in low-income and underserved areas of the 13-county southwest Indiana region.
The award was part of $72.6 million awarded nationally to 246 organizations across the U.S.
“This investment from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund is a recognition of the continued impact CFB is having in bringing needed investment to the Indiana Uplands region,” CFB Board President Tina Peterson said in a news release. “With these resources, CFB is positioned to increase outreach to communities and organizations across the region and to share how community development financial institutions can help expand opportunities for affordable housing, small business, and access to important services, such as childcare.”
CDFI Friendly Bloomington received a similar award of a $125,000 grant in 2021.
The funds help the nonprofit connect projects in the region to a network of more than 1,400 community development financial institutions such as banks, credit unions and other loan providers to obtain financing.
Since its founding, CDFI Friendly Bloomington has attracted more than $25 million in investment from community development financial institutions across the country, resulting in more than $57 million in projects such as affordable housing and small-business ventures.
“Investment from CDFIs is roughly $714 per person nationwide, but in our 13-county region, it is just about $49 per person,” CFB Executive Director John Zody said in the news release. “Our mission as an organization and regional community development partner is to make sure the Indiana Uplands area is not left behind when it comes to opportunities to increase access to project financing and to help fill gaps when they occur. This grant will help us expand our reach to work with communities to do just that.”
Most of the counties in the Indiana Uplands region are below the state’s estimated median household income of about $62,000 and are at or below the state unemployment rate, according to a 2023 housing study by economic development nonprofit Regional Opportunity Initiatives. On average, 40% of renters in the region are cost burdened.