WASHINGTON–Credit unions have received approximately 28% of the $180.3.-million distributed in the most recent Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA) Program awards
In all, 265 CDFIs received funds, 66 of which were credit unions and which received 39,217,720 in total in Financial Assistance (FA) and Technical Assistance (TA) awards.
“We congratulate all the credit unions that were awarded this round as these funding opportunities are the direct result of the impactful work CDFI credit unions do in the communities they serve and the advocacy work Inclusiv does on their behalf,” said Chriselle Martinez, CDFI Program Director at Inclusiv.
In a statement following the announcement of the awards, Inclusiv said that with support from CUNA Mutual Group and other partners it has been working “intensively” to promote the value of the CDFI certification and educate credit unions about funding opportunities.
“At over 400 institutions, CDFI certified credit unions are at an all-time peak,” Inclusiv stated. “Many more may be eligible and we urge credit unions to reach out to us to determine their eligibility and participate in these communities. There still are $1.7 billion available for grant funding as part of the original $3.2 billion included in the economic recovery bill passed in December 2020.”
A ‘Historic Year’
Inclusiv called 2021 a “historic year” for CDFI credit unions, noting that addition to the Financial Assistance Awards, 13 credit unions received $2.8 million to scale up Small Dollar Loans, another 94 credit unions received $11.7 million in Technical Assistance Grants, and 244 CDFI credit unions received $404 million in grants as part of the Rapid Response Program.
The $458 million channeled to credit unions this year has almost doubled the amount our industry has received since the inception of the CDFI Fund in 1996, Inclusiv said.
A full list of all the winners plus additional information can be found here.
As CUToday.info earlier reported here, CU Strategic Planning reported its client CUs won more than half of the awards that went to credit unions.