Financial Assistance Award will increase affordable housing and access to services in low-income communities.

Florida Community Loan Fund, a statewide nonprofit lending institution, received a $1.1 million Financial Assistance Award from the U.S. Department of Treasury Community Development Financial Institution Fund. The FA Award allows FCLF to continue its 28-year history of providing affordable and flexible financing to support Florida’s low-income communities by increasing the supply of affordable housing and community service facilities.

Florida is the 3rd most populated U.S. state, where an estimated one-third of residents are among the working poor, employed but unable to afford basic needs. The lack of affordable housing pervades every community, and studies show that when families spend too much on housing they cannot afford other necessities such as quality healthcare, education, and childcare.

The most recent award is a crucial piece of FCLF’s plan to deploy $80 million in financing throughout Florida to support affordable housing and community facilities over the next three years. It will serve as a catalyst for FCLF to secure additional capital from investors and donors to support the increased volume in lending.

“We focus on maximizing opportunities for people and places outside of the economic mainstream. This new funding from the CDFI Fund will help us significantly increase the volume of our financing across every region of the state,” said FCLF CEO Ignacio Esteban.

As the only entity in Florida focusing on funding nonprofit community development organizations, FCLF fills a unique need in the market. FCLF borrowers develop affordable housing and facilities that provide essential social services to distressed communities and at-risk populations; for example:

• Mango Cove Apartments: new, affordable rental apartments on a site with prior hurricane damage in West Palm Beach.
• Community Assisted and Supported Living, CASL: affordable housing with on-site supportive services for individuals with disabilities in West and Southwest Florida.
• SailFuture: tuition-free academic alternatives and vocational training for foster care youth through a renovated school building and residential facilities in Tampa Bay.

The CDFI Fund awarded a total of $194.1 million in Financial Assistance Awards to 252 CDFIs. 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.

About Florida Community Loan Fund. Florida Community Loan Fund is a nonprofit, multifaceted financing entity with a 28-year history of providing flexible capital and expertise to nonprofit and mission-aligned for-profit entities that benefit people and places outside the economic mainstream across Florida. FCLF is nationally recognized for its work as a certified CDFI and CDE through the U.S. Dept. of Treasury and as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. www.fclf.org.