CDFI Friendly Evansville Region will bring in flexible capital from CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institutions) to address a range of unmet financing needs in our communities.
What is CDFI Friendly Evansville Region?
CDFI Friendly Evansville Region is an emerging strategy to connect businesses, housing developers, community organizations, and others in the region with
access to CDFI financing.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are private financial institutions that exist to meet community financing needs for under-financed people and communities just outside the margins of conventional finance. CDFIs work in all 50 states in urban, rural, and Native communities. They specialize in financing people and communities that historically are under-resourced and under-valued.
They provide customized, affordable financing and technical assistance (or development services) to help their borrowers succeed. CDFIs are sustainable because they are profitable but not profit-maximizing.
Why is CDFI Friendly Evansville Region Needed?
In the Fall of 2022, Evansville community, civic, and business leaders decided to work with CDFI Friendly America to assess the needs of individuals, businesses, housing and real estate developers, and nonprofits in the community. They identified a pressing need for more customized, affordable financing as well as additional development services in the Evansville region. The group identified CDFIs as key to addressing those needs.
CDFIs have made loans and investments in the Evansville region over the past 15 years, but they can do more if we help them identify opportunities and expand their access in the community.