Christopher Gil
Senior Content Marketing Manager
Mission Economic Development Agency
(415) 282-3334 ext. 152
cgil@medasf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 6, 2016
MEDA Receives $125K U.S. Department of the Treasury CDFI TA Award
Puts MEDA’s Adelante Fund on the path to becoming a certified CDFI
San Francisco, Calif. — The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced a $125,000 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund TA award to the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) for capacity building of the latter’s Adelante Fund. There were 196 such awards, totaling $187.5 million; the CDFI Fund has now crossed the $2 billion threshold in community investments.
Stated CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan, “This milestone underscores the transformative impact CDFIs are having in low-income, distressed, and underserved communities and areas of persistent poverty. In businesses financed, real estate developed, affordable housing constructed and improved access to the financial system, CDFIs are empowering change and revitalization in their communities.”
This national recognition represents a milestone for MEDA’s Adelante Fund, which started disbursing loans just one year ago. There have been 25 loans to date, totaling $712,000 to community businesses that could not gain access to capital at traditional banks. Loans range from $5,000 to $100,000, with needs ranging from purchasing delivery trucks to remodeling commercial spaces. This has led to 18 jobs being created in the habitually underresourced community. The aim? Building community capital.
The need being fulfilled is showcased by the fact that 87.5 percent of loans disbursed so far have been to Latinos, plus Adelante Fund is one of only a handful of CDFI’s in California that does not use immigration status of the small-business owner as a criterion for qualification.
Explaining the impact of this award, Adelante Fund Lending Manager Diana Matei-Golopenta said, “This award will support Adelante Fund’s growth to become a certified CDFI and enhance our community loan fund’s ability to meet the needs of local small-business owners. The funds will be used to achieve organizational sustainability and to contribute to the revitalization of the Latino business community throughout the nine-county Bay Area, with a focus on San Francisco’s Mission-Bernal Heights-Excelsior corridor, plus the cities of Richmond and Oakland.”
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About Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
Rooted in the Mission and focused on San Francisco, MEDA’s mission is to strengthen low- and moderate-income Latino families by promoting economic equity and social justice through asset building and community development. medasf.org
About the CDFI Fund
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2.2 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 $852 million has been guaranteed in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
cdfifund.gov
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