The Brunswick-based Genesis Fund was awarded an $825,000 grant from the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department. The CDFI Program invests in and builds the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and underserved communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services. The Genesis Fund’s award provides loan capital to support affordable housing and other community development projects to benefit low-income people in Maine and New Hampshire.
This award is part of $180.3 million in competitive grant funding announced today by the U.S. Treasury, in support of CDFI investment in low-income and distressed communities nationwide. The Genesis Fund is joined by fellow Maine community development organizations Northern Maine Development Commission and Community Credit Union as one of only three grant recipients in the state in this year’s funding round.
The $825,000 loan capital award includes $300,000 designated specifically for projects serving people with disabilities. The Genesis Fund is one of only fourteen organizations nationally to receive a Disability Finance award, and one of only two that serve primarily rural markets in the U.S.
According to a press release, the grant will enable the Genesis Fund to leverage additional community investment capital to further expand its $33 million revolving loan pool, which is deployed to support high-impact affordable housing and community facility projects in Maine and New Hampshire. This grant award will help Genesis further ramp up its lending capacity, so that it can continue to respond quickly and creatively to projects addressing pervasive and urgent community needs: safe, quality affordable housing, child care, food security, substance use disorder treatment and support, and addressing systemic inequities impacting BIPOC communities.
“We are so thrilled to be awarded this significant – and incredibly timely – grant award,” Genesis Fund Executive Director Liza Fleming-Ives said. “This capital will help Genesis make projects happen that otherwise might not, supporting Maine and New Hampshire communities at a critical moment. The pandemic has intensified an already urgent need for additional affordable housing and essential community facilities like food banks, child care centers, homeless shelters and recovery residences. As we begin to emerge from this challenging time, Genesis will have capital at the ready to help jump-start projects in support of a robust and vibrant economic recovery.”
The Genesis Fund is a mission-based financial institution that brings together resources to create housing and other economic and social opportunities for underserved people and communities. With its revolving loan pool, the Genesis Fund provides financing with flexible terms and interest rates to provide innovative, patient, and risk-tolerant loan capital to fill gaps in financing for projects where conventional lending opportunities are unavailable or insufficient. As loans are repaid, funds in the revolving loan pool are committed to new projects.
Since 1992, the Genesis Fund has provided over $70 million in loans to over 300 projects, and has leveraged more than $400 million for the benefit of communities in Maine and beyond. Learn more about the Genesis Fund at www.genesisfund.org and the Community Development Financial Institution Fund at: www.cdfifund.gov.
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