WASHINGTON–Twenty-one credit unions are among the 195 community development financial institutions that have been awarded $202 million in grants and loans as part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund. Those 21 CUs were awarded a total of $30 million in funds.
Twenty-one credit unions are among the 195 community development financial institutions that have been awarded $202 million in grants and loans as part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund. Those 21 CUs were awarded a total of $30 million in funds.
Eleven of those credit unions are clients of one firm: Tacoma, Wash.-based CU Strategic Planning, which was responsible for helping those clients receive $19.2 million.
“Today’s awards highlight how much the CDFI Program has contributed in its 20 year history towards building a strong network of CDFIs across the country,” said CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan.
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, Treasury said.
Credit unions that received funds include: Alternatives FCU, Carolina Foothills FCU, CommunityWorks FCU, CoVantage CU, CU Community CU, MAC FCU, New Mexico Educators FCU, Orion FCU, Pelican State CU, Peninsula Community FCU, Promise CU, Royal Credit Union, Self Help FCU, Unite Burlington CU, GTE FCU, Hope FCU, and Houston Metropolitan FCU.
According to CU Strategic Planning Founding Partner Jamie Strayer (formerly Chase), $20 million is the most funding any single CDFI consultancy’s applications have ever won for credit unions.
“It’s simply a record-breaking year for credit unions receiving CDFI funding from the U.S. Treasury and a record breaking year for CU Strategic Planning,” said Strayer. “We are so proud that the hard work of our team and excellence of the credit unions that choose to work with us resulted in their being awarded the lion’s share of this year’s grant funding.”
CU Strategic Planning clients, along with the funds awarded, include: Gulf Coast Community FCU ($2 million); Orion CU ($2 million); Pelican State CU ($2 million); Royal CU ($2 million); Peninsula CU ($2 million); CU Community CU ($1.98 million); GTE Financial ($1.75-million); MAC FCU ($1.75 million); Houston Metropolitan FCU ($1.45 million); Carolina Foothills FCU ($1.32 million); and Hawaii First FCU ($1 million).
The CDFI Fund anticipates opening the FY 2016 round of the programs in early 2016.