December 22, 2008
Register now for the 2009 CDFI Institute, March 1-3, 2009 in Washington, DC.
The 2009 policy conference will feature candid dialogue with community development finance experts about issues facing the field.
Also included are opportunities to meet with Congressional leaders and the CDFI Fund, and to interact with your CDFI colleagues from around the country. Join us, your colleagues, a new Administration and new Congress in March 2009. Register now and receive a $100 discount! (http://cdfi.org/index.php?page=institute-a)
Advocacy Update
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to write the Treasury and Congress in support of CDFIs. With your help, over the past couple of weeks, we have delivered over 540 letters to Treasury and over 600 letters to 215 Congressional offices in support CDFIs. If you have not yet sent a letter to Treasury or Congress, there is still an opportunity to do so. To write to Treasury click here
(http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5172/t/2646/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=8
04).
To write to Congress click here
(http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5172/t/2646/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=8
30). We have provided a suggested text for a letter and it only takes a minute to fill out your address and push send.
CDFI Coalition Board testifies at CDFI Fund Subcommittee Meeting
The CDFI Fund formed a new Subcommittee to understand the impact of the current financial crisis and to advise the Fund on policy and program recommendations. The CDFI Coalition was invited to testify at the Subcommittee meeting on December 19th. Kerwin Tesdell, Mark Pinsky, Cliff Rosenthal, Elsie Meeks, and Jeannine Jacokes testified on behalf of the CDFI Coalition. The Subcommittee will report to the CDFI Fund’s full Advisory Board on January 15th.
CDFI Coalition Letters to Treasury and Congress
The CDFI Coalition mailed letters to the US Department of Treasury and Congress urging them to support CDFIs. Our letter to the Treasury (http://cdfi.org/uploads/news/id144/CDFI%20TARP%20Proposal%2011-12-08%20FINA
L.pdf), recommends that a Capital for Communities Recovery Program be created that
(1) sets aside $1 billion of the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization
Act for CDFIs to support lending to and investing in low and moderate income communities and people; and (2) establishes an affirmative obligation on institutions that receive funding under the Capital Purchase Program to support
CDFIs.
The Coalition’s letter to Congress
(http://cdfi.org/uploads/news/id148/CDFI%20stimulus%20letter%2012-10%20-%20F
INAL.pdf) recommends that a Community Development Stimulus Program be created that allocates $500 million a year for two years to the CDFI Fund. This program
will create an immediate economic stimulus for low income communities and directly
infuse capital into CDFIs.
Congressional Leaders write to Treasury in support of CDFIs
On December 12, Chairman Barney Frank and 16 other House Financial Services
Committee members wrote a letter (http://cdfi.org/uploads/other/Chairman%20Frank%20Letter%20Dec%2012%202008%2
0(3).pdf) urging the US Department of the Treasury to support CDFIs through the
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Specifically the letter supported the CDFI
Coalition’s proposal (see above) to create a “Capital for Communities Recovery
Plan.” We would like to thank Chairman Frank for sending the letter and Jeannine Jacokes (Community Development Bankers Association) for her work putting this letter together.
Industry Meeting to Address Current Financial Crisis
The CDFI Coalition convened a very interesting and productive meeting on December 1st with 50 CDFI industry leaders to discuss the state of CDFIs during the financial crisis. Generally, CDFIs were not involved in the foreclosure crisis, but most are seeing a tight squeeze on their liquidity and access to capital. Some are starting to see an increase in defaults as “collateral damage” from the overall crisis. Some regions with higher immigrant populations are seeing decreased loan demand as immigrants are moving back to their home countries. On the bright side, deposits in some CDFIs are up as people move away from the banks and better quality loan requests are coming in after they
are turned down by banks.
Coming out of the meeting, the group decided to advocate for resources for CDFIs through both the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the upcoming stimulus in order to boost the flow of funds to critical community development projects and expand existing programs that provide catalytic investment in America’s low to moderate income neighborhoods (see letters above).
Cliff Rosenthal receives Award
The CDFI Coalition would like to congratulate, Cliff Rosenthal (CDFI Coalition board member and past board chair), for receiving the second annual Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Lending at Opportunity Finance Network’s conference on December 10th. Named for the late Federal Reserve Board Governor Edward (Ned) Gramlich, the Award honors a lifetime of achievement in responsible financial services. Rosenthal is the President of the New York-based National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (“the Federation”), where he has worked since 1980 and in his current role since 1983. He is the nation’s leading voice and advocate for credit unions that specialize in serving low-income communities across the United States. You can read the press release here
(http://www.opportunityfinance.net/uploadedFiles/Press/Press_Releases/120108
_Gramlich_Awardee_Rosenthal.pdf).
Job Opening at The Community Builders
The Community Builders, Inc has a Property Manager Position open. The Property Manager is responsible for the overall management and operations of the assigned
property. For more information about this position click here
(https://www.bridgestar.org/Jobs/PositionDetails.aspx?jobId=4726).
CDFI Coalition
www.cdfi.org
email: [email protected]
phone: 703-294-6970
The CDFI Coalition is the unified national voice of community development financial institutions. Our mission is to encourage fair access to financial resources for America’s underserved people and communities.