VCLF awarded $535,103 grant by US Department of Treasury CDFI Fund

The Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF), a nonprofit, mission-driven lender, has been awarded a $535,103 grant by the US Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) to grow their services to Vermont’s small businesses, child care programs, community facilities and affordable housing developments. VCLF’s lending programs focus on creating opportunities leading to healthy communities and financial stability for all Vermonters.
‘This most recent award is a huge vote of confidence from the CDFI Fund, in support of the Loan Fund’s work helping to create jobs, bolster the economy, provide affordable housing, childcare and other vital services for the benefit of lower-income Vermonters,’ said VCLF Executive Director Will Belongia. The award will support VCLF's loan programs and provide permanent lending equity.
‘By providing affordable credit and capital, CDFIs play a unique role in creating jobs, generating economic growth and revitalizing neighborhoods in America’s low-income and economically-distressed communities,’ said Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary Don Graves. ‘Building on nearly two decades of Treasury support for CDFIs, the awards announced today will allow these financial institutions to better meet the investment and lending needs of the communities they serve.’
VCLF is one of 191 grantees awarded in the FY 2013 CDFI program, a highly competitive funding opportunity that selects the most outstanding candidates from thousands of CDFI applicants nationwide.
‘The CDFI Fund is supporting more economic development efforts than ever before to bring new life to struggling communities,’ said CDFI Fund Director Donna J Gambrell.
Since the CDFI Fund’s grants program inception in 1996, VCLF has been awarded ten grants totaling more than $7 million, in support of its community-building, mission-driven lending programs. For more information about the Loan Fund and its lending programs, visit www.investinvermont.org
About the Vermont Community Loan Fund
The Vermont Community Loan Fund’s mission is to create opportunities leading to healthy communities and financial stability for all Vermonters. Since our inception in 1987, we’ve lent over $75 million, creating or preserving 3,500 jobs, building or rehabilitating 3,200 affordable homes for Vermont’s families, individuals and seniors, creating or preserving 2,600 child care slots and supporting vital community services touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of Vermonters.
About the CDFI Program

Through the CDFI Program’s Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of for-profit and non-profit community based lending organizations known as Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs. These organizations, certified as CDFIs by the U.S. Treasury Department, serve rural and urban low-income people and communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. Awards are granted through an annual competitive application
process. Learn more about the CDFI Program at www.cdfifund.gov/cdfi.