Florida Community Loan Fund is pleased to announce it is a recipient of $3.5 million from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund.
• $2 million in Financial Assistance (FA), and
• $1.5 million from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI).
FCLF’s Award is the largest of the 5 Florida organizations to receive an award through this competitive process. Since our first award in 1998, FCLF has secured over $10 million in CDFI Awards and an additional $206 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Awards.
The $3.5 million award will expand FCLF’s financing for new construction, rehabilitation, and expanding access to fresh and healthy foods in low-income communities. Florida Community Loan Fund financing has supported a total of $735 million in projects statewide, including:
• 3700 housing units: 1600 multifamily, 1100 single family, 1000 supportive housing
• 1.5 million sq ft in community facilities
• over 8,000 jobs created or retained
As the 3rd most populous state, Florida’s need for affordable housing and social services in low-income neighborhoods continues to grow. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Florida household would need to work 126 hours per week at minimum wage to afford the fair market rent (no more than 30% of income for housing).
“Our 20 years of history and extensive knowledge of Florida communities have established FCLF as a leader in community development. The CDFI Award augments our current financing to help build strong communities and allows us to expand our young but promising healthy food financing initiative which aims to increase access to fresh foods in food deserts.” – Ignacio Esteban, CEO, Florida Community Loan Fund