Homewise announced recently it received a $2 million award from the U.S. Department of Treasury\’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to support Homewise’s integrated lending products and development services to create homebuyers who are set up for long-term financial success.
The CDFI Fund awarded $202 million in grants and loans to 195 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the country through the latest rounds of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program).
Homewise was one of five New Mexico CDFIs to receive awards this year and received the maximum amount. The other recipients are ACCION New Mexico ($1.36 million), Cha Piyeh, Inc. ($300,000), Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation ($600,000) and New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union ($124,950).
“This CDFI grant plays a critical role in assisting Homewise to create a stronger community through sustainable affordable housing,” says Mike Loftin, Chief Executive Officer of Homewise. “Our ability to offer low-interest, fixed rate 30 year mortgages to those who work in Santa Fe is greatly enhanced by this grant.”
Homewise was certified as a CDFI in 1999. Since then, Homewise has been awarded $8.8 million to date (including its recent $2 million award) to support
The CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of community credit unions, banks, loan funds, and other financial institutions serving rural and urban communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. Through the first 20 rounds of this program, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $1.5 billion, helping build a nationwide network of more than 950 CDFIs located in every state, all focused on economically empowering the communities they serve.
About the CDFI Fund
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the NACA Program, the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, and the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $43.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and $525 million has been guaranteed in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit: www.cdfifund.gov
About Homewise
Homewise Inc. is a nonprofit organization that works throughout New Mexico with a mission to help create successful homeowners so that they improve their financial wellbeing and contribute to the vitality of our communities. Homewise empowers and supports clients on their path to homeownership through each step of the process with financial education and coaching, real estate services, affordable mortgage lending and down payment assistance, and refinance and home improvement lending. Since its founding in 1986, Homewise has helped over 3,112 people purchase homes, over 2,597 people keep their homes by providing refinance and home improvement lending, trained and counseled more than 12,087 people toward successful homeownership and built over 563 affordable, energy-efficient homes. For more information, please visit www.homewise.org
For more information on the CDFI Fund and other Homewise funders, please contact Cece Derringer, Chief Investment Officer, at 505.955.7020 or cderringer@homewise.org
