The Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (RVCDF) is pleased to announce that it is a recipient of an award from the US Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution Fund (CDFI Fund) with a $776,500 award to support small businesses in south Seattle.
Under the CDFI Program, the CDFI Fund awarded $171.1 million in Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance in 2017 to 265 organizations in 46 states and the District of Columbia. The CDFI Program invests in and builds capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services.
“Having recently attained its Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Certification, this is a major milestone for RVCDF,” said RVCDF Executive Director Wayne Lau. “We are pleased to be one of 265 Financial Assistance awardees and one of 50 first-time applicants receiving an award.”
This year’s application evaluated the extent of economic distress in a CDFI’s area, the extent of its activities to expand economic opportunities and the extent of its collaboration with its communities.
“This award will provide us with loan capital to explore lending outside our immediate Rainier Valley area,” said Lau, “while continuing to provide financing to small businesses owners who cannot obtain traditional bank financing.”
RVCDF was certified by the CDFI Fund earlier this year, which made it eligible to apply for awards through programs offered by the CDFI Fund and other institutions supporting the CDFI mission. These awards enable CDFIs to finance a wide range of activities—including commercial lending to small business owners in under-served areas, flexible underwriting for community facilities, and affordable housing.
RVCDF’s commercial lending program began in 2006, focusing on minority and women owned businesses as well as affordable housing and community facilities.
“We work closely with other non-profits, business organizations and local government, assisting our clients to achieve their goals, fund jobs, and create needed services in our community,” added Lau.
View more information about the FY 2017 CDFI Program awardees at
https://www.cdfifund.gov/Documents/FINAL%202017%20CDFI%20Award%20Book%20091817_for%20web.pdf.