The U.S. Department of Treasury awarded $3.9 million in Capital Magnet Funds (CMF) to Boston Community Capital. The Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund award supports BCC’s nationwide effort to protect and establish affordable housing through innovative and flexible loan capital programs.
Capital Magnet Fund awards can be used to finance affordable housing activities as well as related economic development and community service facilities such as day care centers, workforce development centers and health care clinics. BCC will use the CMF award to support high impact affordable housing development initiatives in high-poverty regions across the country, focusing on communities in nine states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
“An affordable housing crisis still exists for millions across the country,” said Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital. “People coping with housing insecurity tend to have lower school attendance and graduation rates, higher unemployment, and compromised health and longevity. This award will be instrumental in helping us ensure that low-income people can enjoy the stability that affords them better access to good jobs, financial stability and good health.”
Of the 120 organizations that submitted applications for this competitive, merit-based grant, the Fund awarded funding to just 40 CDFIs and nonprofit housing organizations.
“The CDFI Fund sets a very high bar with its Capital Magnet Fund. BCC is delighted to receive this award again this year in support of projects furthering our mission of building healthy communities where low-income people live and work,” said BCC Loan Fund President Michelle Volpe.
The Loan Fund’s Capital Magnet funding is focused on serving low-income residents of color facing rising housing costs in gentrifying neighborhoods by increasing the supply of affordable housing, producing mixed-income housing to dilute the concentration of poverty and promote equitable access to quality services, according to Ms. Volpe.
BCC previously received a Capital Magnet Fund grant in 2016, totaling $4.5 million, in recognition of the nonprofit’s strong history in community development across the U.S. As of December 2017, BCC has invested more than $1.4 billion in projects that create opportunities in low-income communities, like affordable housing, community health resources, clean and fixed-rate energy, as well as child care and education, including developing or rehabilitating over 18,000 units of housing.