Capital Impact Partners Awarded $3.5 Million in CDFI Fund Community Development Grants

Written by Michelle Betton on September 24, 2020. Posted in Press Release

September 25, 2020 (Arlington, VA) – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced yesterday that Capital Impact Partners was awarded $3.5 million in grants through the 2020 round of the CDFI Program. The organization was the 4th highest awardee among the 357 organizations recognized. The awards will enable Capital Impact Partners to expand its efforts to create new lending products for emerging real estate developers in Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia (DMV), expand support for healthy food entrepreneurs across California, and increase supportive housing in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“The impacts of COVID-19 we have witnessed this year require a dedicated and focused response to ensure that these communities do not lose additional assets that they bring to the table in support of strong, vibrant communities,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. “We are grateful for the support of the CDFI Fund to advance our work to champion access to capital and opportunity through these programs.”

A $557,000 Financial Assistance (FA) grant was awarded to help Capital Impact Partners expand its efforts to provide acquisition and predevelopment loans to developers in the DMV for affordable housing projects and community facilities. It is the organization’s goal to utilize the new loan products to create pathways of success for developers who have not been able to enter the real estate industry due to lack of capital, equity, and experience. 

In addition, Capital Impact Partners received a $2.75 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA) award to support equitable access to capital for healthy food entrepreneurs and retailers operating across California. This will build upon the organization’s Michigan Good Food Fund work targeting independent grocers, local wholesalers, food hubs, processors, and mobile fresh food marts and farm stands across that state.

Capital Impact Partners also received a $268,750 Disability Funds-Financial Assistance (DF-FA) award for supportive housing in the San Francisco Bay Area for people with disabilities. This will expand on the organization’s focus on housing issues in the region through its participation in the Bay’s Future Fund.

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CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact Partners Announce a New Alliance to Empower Community Growth

Written by Michelle Betton on August 4, 2020. Posted in Press Release

August 4, 2020 (Arlington, VA and San Diego, CA) – CDC Small Business Finance, the nation’s leading mission-based small business lender, and Capital Impact Partners, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), are proud to announce a new alliance. With a focus on economic empowerment and wealth creation, the two organizations have the unique ability to deliver a full suite of lending products and programs that support community efforts to create strong, vibrant, and healthy places of opportunity.

Realizing the need for a new approach to implement scalable solutions, CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact have been in conversation for more than a year and, last fall, began to work diligently together to create the foundation for this new enterprise effort. 

The alliance will immediately focus on supporting recovery and relief needs of community members, small businesses, and organizations, delivering key social services that have been devastated by these uncertain times. With a $4 million grant from JPMorgan Chase as part of its effort to support small businesses and a grant from the Heron Foundation, CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact are well positioned to scale the alliance’s impact.

“Issues of opportunity in American communities require bold new thinking to drive measurable change in community and economic development,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. “We understand that banks, funders, and other institutions have historically been challenged to connect capital to communities. By leveraging our unique expertise, complementary mission-based approaches, and holistic strategies, it is our hope that the alliance will accelerate solutions to address critical needs at scale.”

“Capital Impact and CDC Small Business Finance are industry leaders with a track record of driving innovative community development. Now, at a time when CDFIs and CDCs play a critical role in the COVID-19 economic recovery, their alliance reimagines the scope, scale and impact mission-based lenders can have on communities,” said Ted Archer, Head of Small Business Forward at JPMorgan Chase. “JPMorgan Chase is proud to support this alliance and deepen impact.”

Work will begin through three place-based pilots in the Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan (DMV) areas. In each community, cross-organizational teams will listen and actively engage with local community members to understand the problems that are unique to each region, while sharing tools, programs, and services that are strategically customized to address high-priority issues.

The locations of the three pilots were intentionally chosen based on the current geographic focus for place-based community empowerment strategies within both organizations. Capital Impact is headquartered in Arlington, Va., with significant experience in the DMV. Similarly, Capital Impact has been engaging with partners in Detroit since 2011 and has been deeply involved in launching the Detroit Neighborhoods Fund and the EDI program for real estate developers.

CDC Small Business Finance was founded in San Diego and today still offices there as well as locations and teams across California, Arizona and Nevada. For over four decades CDC Small Business Finance has helped California small business owners access more than $18.6 billion in financing. With an office in Oakland for the past two decades, Capital Impact already has a history of community and economic development that complements CDC Small Business Finance’s SBA lending activities across California.

Efforts will be replicated and expanded in other parts of the country based on lessons learned through the initial pilots in these three cities.

Collaboration with the New Alliance

Over the last 41 years the individual impact that CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact have each made in their respective areas of focus have totaled over $23 billion. Capital Impact Partners has invested more than $2.5 billion to community facilities and other intermediaries focused on access to affordable housing, health care, food, and education. This investment has served more than 5.5 million people and created more than 38,000 jobs. Across all programs, CDC Small Business Finance has helped more than 12,000 small businesses access over $20.7 billion in financing and created and/or preserved over 205,000 jobs. This deep and proven expertise will shape how the alliance works across:

• Communities — City and State: The experience of both organizations will allow for a spectrum of solutions to be created in partnership with communities, addressing whole-person strategies to influence measurable change. Partnerships will occur at all levels of community and economic development, including community members, organizations, financial institutions, investors, philanthropy, and government.
• Lending and Capital Industries: Industry innovation is critical to meet the immense challenges American communities face. The alliance will holistically focus on economic empowerment and wealth creation by jointly developing solutions that are uniquely tailored to solve for the specific issues facing each community.
• Funders and Investors: By joining forces, the organization will, over time, work to become a collaborative conduit and partner to banks, funders, and large institutions in an effort to help them overcome challenges in effectively connecting capital to communities.

“Community development without economic development does not build intergenerational wealth and pathways out of poverty. And, economic development without community development can go against the interests of community members,” commented Kurt Chilcott, president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance. “With the alliance, it is our hope that a holistic approach will drive greater impact than what the industry has seen before. In order to be successful, we realize we must create solutions that consider that every community and its residents have varying needs, backgrounds, and access.”

Capital Impact and CDC Small Business Finance were first introduced to each other by Next Street, a mission-driven advisory firm that had been advising each of the organizations about their individual strategic planning process. Next Street has continued to play an integral role in helping to shape the alliance to help maximize the organization’s complementary expertise for maximum social impact.

Additional Background

• CDC Small Business Finance is a leader in the community and economic development field, providing access to transformative products, services, and advocacy to ensure all small businesses have the opportunity to succeed and grow. Key offerings include:
  • Commercial real estate lending
  • Small business lending
  • Business advising services
  • Advocacy and policy
• Through capital and commitment, Capital Impact helps people build communities of opportunity that breaks down barriers to success. Core offerings focus on:
  • Mission-driven lending
  • Capacity building and technical assistance programs
  • Public policy

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Capital Impact Partners Awarded $15 Million to Advance Work as Part of Giving Pledge Commitment

Written by Michelle Betton on July 29, 2020. Posted in Press Release

July 29, 2020 (Arlington, VA) – Capital Impact Partners today announced that it was awarded $15 million as part of a Giving Pledge commitment by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The award represents the single largest individual gift in the organization’s history and will help advance the organization’s work with communities nationwide. 

Capital Impact joined a number of leading organizations who were named as part of Ms. Scott’s nearly $590 million dollar commitment. Since 1982, the mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) has been working closely with communities across the country to understand their specific needs, and develop and advance solutions with local leaders and organizations to overcome barriers to success and create pathways to wealth building and economic empowerment.

“I am both thrilled, and humbled, by the fact that Capital Impact Partners was included as part of this generous Giving Pledge commitment,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact. “Capital Impact, and the organizations that Ms. Scott recognized, are uniquely positioned to work with communities to create strong, vibrant places of opportunity. This generous grant is an affirmation of that important work being done and I am excited about the transformational impact we can have through Ms. Scott’s generosity.” 

An Opportunity to Scale Solutions

Capital Impact plans to strategically utilize the unrestricted grant to scale the organization’s lending and programmatic initiatives to address community needs. In addition to expanding current lending and programmatic initiatives, Capital Impact will be seeding new and disruptive ideas to accelerate the pace of change for communities. Examples of these kinds of projects include:

• EDI program for real estate developers: A training and mentorship program designed to better ensure that community-centric real estate developers are able to participate in growth and revitalization efforts.
• Detroit Loan Fund: Designed to create pathways of success for real estate developers who have not been able to enter the real estate industry due to lack of capital, equity, and experience. This loan fund deploys low-cost and flexible financing to developers who live in and around Detroit.
• Co-op Innovation Award: This grant initiative supports scaling food, worker, and housing cooperatives, with a focus on increasing cooperative development in low-income communities.

A Pledge That Supports Leadership

In total, Ms. Scott committed $1.54 billion to 116 organizations representing a wide variety of causes. The organizations chosen each had a “track record of effective management and significant impacts in their fields” as noted in the announcement.

The Giving Pledge is a movement of philanthropists who commit to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. Ms. Scott published her initial letter of support to the Giving Pledge website here. 

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In a Time of Crisis, the Sixth Annual Co-op Innovation Award Supports Co-op Expansion and Education

Written by Michelle Betton on June 30, 2020. Posted in Press Release

June 30, 2020 (Arlington, VA) – The cooperative development model creates opportunities for economic mobility and for financial and community resilience, including during times of crisis. Three cooperative organizations were chosen to receive Capital Impact Partners’ Co-op Innovation Award, which aims to increase co-op development in communities with low incomes. In partnership with The National Cooperative Bank, the 2020 awardees — ChiFresh, The Guild, and the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative — received a total of $100,000.

“In our sixth year of offering the Co-op Innovation Award, we are turning our minds not just to innovative ideas, but also toward ideas that expand the co-op model to more communities that could benefit from it,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. “Workers deserve the opportunity not only for financial stability and mobility, but also for dignified work at a living wage. We are glad to partner with The National Cooperative Bank to use this award as a tool for communities nationwide.”

“The National Cooperative Bank is proud to work with Capital Impact Partners to award these three deserving organizations,” stated Charles Snyder, CEO of NCB. “Each one is deeply rooted in their community and will enhance the cooperative model. We look forward to seeing the impact of their work in the years to come.”

This year’s Co-op Innovation Award focused on organizations educating new audiences on the impact and potential of the cooperative model to steward community ownership and create strong vibrant places of opportunity. Priority was given to food, worker, and housing cooperatives, but all sectors were invited to apply.

While the award was advertised before restrictions were implemented around the COVID-19 pandemic, co-ops provide community stability which is critical in weathering crises that can be crippling to small businesses and workers with low wages. Working in community, co-ops allow their members to determine what is best for everyone.

ChiFresh Kitchen is being awarded $50,000 to expand its commercial kitchen, owned and determined by formerly incarcerated Chicagoans. ChiFresh pushed forward its intended launch in response to the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on residents with low incomes.

ChiFresh is now delivering prepared meals that are freshly cooked, healthy and delicious. Many of the members lost jobs because of COVID so launching the co-op provided much needed income in addition to getting food out to the community. They are working closely with local government and anchor institutions to become the go-to prepared meal vendor for anchor institutions implementing good food purchasing policies. ChiFresh hopes to influence the narrative around worker cooperatives and their impact on the lives of community members.

“ChiFresh planned to serve meals to after school and summer programs, but as we launch in the midst of this crisis, we have pivoted to meet the immediate needs facing our communities,” said Camille Kerr, ChiFresh coordinator. “This grant allows us to partner with our fellow worker cooperative farms and food operators to address COVID-related food insecurity. With Capital Impact’s support, we can use this moment to build up the infrastructure for cooperatives to play a larger role in our local food ecosystem long-term.”

The Guild in Atlanta is being awarded $25,000 to support its mission of building community wealth through real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to capital.

The grant will support the Guild’s “whole systems” approach, allowing the Guild to continue providing technical assistance to enterprises through its Community Wealth Building Accelerator; launch its Integrated Capital Fund that will coordinate and deploy different types of capital and investments to entrepreneurs; and launch the Groundcover Community Investment Trust to introduce an alternative real estate development model to the Atlanta community.

“The Guild offers real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to non-extractive capital to build community wealth and resilience,” said Avery Ebron, Head of Product at The Guild. “Capital Impact Partners’ Co-op Innovation Award will help The Guild democratize ownership of businesses and real estate.

The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI) is being awarded $25,000 to bring worker ownership to an entirely new audience of business owners and workers through an industry focused strategy. The grant will support the creation of a worker-owned integrated pest management (IPM) co-op that provides living wages and the opportunity to scale through demand from institutional purchasers.

BCDI is a community-led economic development organization that provides materials, training, and workshops in several different languages. A key objective for the organization is localizing procurement to Bronx-based businesses and worker-owned cooperatives by leveraging stakeholder relationships.

“Through the Co-op Innovation Award, grant, BCDI and DAWI are forming an Integrated Pest Management cooperative that will be owned and operated by its workers,” said Michael Partis, Executive Director of BCDI. “Our intervention promises to create jobs, generate shared wealth, and move us closer to ending generational poverty in the poorest urban county in the United States.”

During times of crisis, the cooperative model encourages greater civic engagement, as well as community self-determination, agency, and resilience. Worker cooperatives, in particular, have been increasing through innovative organizing and growth strategies that empower workers and build wealth for those who locked out the mainstream economy. As mission-driven organizations focus on expanding their efforts across the country, cooperatives and organizations that empower them will continue to be partners in broadening opportunities for all.

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Capital Impact Partners Launches Innovative Response Fund to Bolster Healthy Food Systems

Written by Michelle Betton on June 17, 2020. Posted in Press Release

June 17, 2020 (Arlington, VA) – Capital Impact Partners announced today that it launched its DMV Good Food Fund (DMV GFF) Innovative Response Fund, providing $100,000 in awards to key partners  in order to sustain and stabilize mission-aligned good food enterprises in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Given with the generous support of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the awards will allow local good food enterprises to reposition and pivot in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the regional food economy.

The recipients of the Innovative Response Fund are: the Latino Economic Development Center, Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Crossroads Community Food Network, Dreaming Out Loud, and EatsPlace.

“COVID-19 has caused significant disruption in healthy food systems in communities with low incomes across the country, and the Washington, D.C. area is no exception,” said Olivia Rebanal, director of Inclusive Food Systems at Capital Impact Partners. “Through the Innovative Response Fund, we were able to ‘resource the pivot’ that so many food businesses in the region have had to make in order to remain open and continue offering healthy food options and employment opportunities in their communities.”

The DMV GFF promotes food sovereignty across the food systems value chain in the Washington, D.C. region (DMV). The Innovative Response Fund aims to create entrepreneurship and job opportunities within the food economy, and increase access to healthy and accessible food in communities where it is lacking.

In addition to expanding Capital Impact’s commitment to economic development in the DMV region, the Response Fund allowed the organization to respond to urgent needs around COVID-19 in alignment with its broader mission. Capital Impact also supports entrepreneurs and real estate developers across the region through its EDI program.

Capital Impact is a co-founder and administrator of the Michigan Good Food Fund, a $30 million public-private partnership loan fund that provides financing to good food enterprises working to increase access to affordable, healthy food in low-income communities in Michigan. Like the Michigan Good Food Fund, the DMV Good Food Fund will use intermediary lenders to facilitate financing ranging from $1,000 to $6,000,000 to good food entrepreneurs at various points within the value chain. Funders interested in building community power by supporting local food businesses can reach out to Capital Impact for information on how to get involved. 

Here is a synopsis of the award recipients:

Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) – [$30,000] works to drive the economic and social advancement of individuals with low-to-moderate incomes and other communities in the D.C. and Baltimore Metropolitan Areas. Award funding will build on LEDC’s “Food Venture Initiative” to deliver workshops for D.C. food businesses at-large in addition to individual intensive coaching to a cohort of selected businesses. The aim is to help them to pivot their operations to survive the impact of COVID-19. This programming will help food businesses keep operations running, their employees on payroll, and revenue flowing during this unprecedented time.

Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) – [$20,000] works to increase economic opportunity in communities in the Washington, D.C. area by investing knowledge, social, and financial capital in entrepreneurs with low and moderate incomes. Wacif also provides technical assistance to entrepreneurs, including through its award-winning Ascend Capital Accelerator program. Funding will be used as a loan loss reserve that positions Wacif as a reliable source of safe, affordable capital for food entrepreneurs, and will catalyze additional capital to make new loans or extend additional relief to existing borrowers.

Crossroads Community Food Network (CCFN) – [$20,000] helps its community of food growers, makers, and consumers in the primarily low-income Takoma/Langley Crossroads community obtain food equity and self-sufficiency through micro-enterprise training, access to an affordable kitchen, and healthy eating programming. Funding will benefit small businesses based at the CCFN kitchen by providing customized technical assistance (TA) as they explore alternative income streams such as making to-go meals, offering take-home meal kits, and developing shelf-stable products. Funding will also be used to provide direct financial support to business owners to help offset expenses that continue to mount during COVID-19, including debt maintenance, inventory, insurance, and licensing renewals.

Dreaming Out Loud (DOL) – [$20,000] seeks to create economic opportunities for the D.C. metro region’s communities by building a healthy food system. DOL is responding to COVID-19 by supporting communities with direct food aid in partnership with nonprofits, farmers, local restaurants, and food makers by coordinating, producing, and distributing emergency meals and fresh vegetables. DOL has successfully helped five D.C.-based food businesses pivot into emergency meal production in partnership with World Central Kitchen, and is poised to pivot and onboard an additional 3-4 producers.

EatsPlace – [$10,000] is a farm and food business accelerator whose mission is to provide innovative financial products, technical assistance, and development services to entrepreneurs. Services include a community commercial kitchen that is a food hub and laboratory for pop-up restaurants. EatsPlace will use the award funding to work with D.C. entrepreneurs to pivot their business models to survive this economic crisis. This individualized guidance also includes financial technical assistance on the ever-changing landscape of grants and capital, regulations, and other resources.

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Inaugural D.C. Co-op Impact Award Supports Cooperatives in the Washington Metro Area

Written by Michelle Betton on June 4, 2020. Posted in Press Release

June 4, 2020 (Washington, D.C/Arlington, VA) – The Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) and Capital Impact Partners today announced $40,000 in grant awards to support cooperatively owned businesses through the D.C. Co-op Impact Grant, launched in partnership with Citi Community Development. The awards will advance the growth of emerging and existing cooperatively owned businesses throughout the Washington, D.C. area.

Nationwide, cooperatives are on the rise to create dignified employment, ownership, and wealth-building opportunities. More and more, communities are seeing the benefits that democratic ownership can provide. The purpose of the D.C. Co-op Impact Award is to support early-stage cooperatives while catalyzing growth, boosting the localized economy and providing catalytic capital to attract other funders. The awardees are expanding the cooperative model in the District, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Awardees include: Bloc by Block News, Community Grocery Cooperative, Community Kitchen Cooperative, The D.C. Pop-Up, Earth-Bound Building, the Farm Cooperative, and Starseed Earthroot.

“Across the country, employee owned businesses are creating new opportunities for entrepreneurship through employee ownership,” said Jennifer Bryant, Wacif’s Program Manager for Community Wealth Building Initiatives. “The D.C. Co-op Impact Grant was created as a vehicle to support the growth of early stage cooperatives and to increase exposure for the co-op businesses that exist in our local ecosystem.” 

“Over the last few years, the co-op model has been gaining momentum in the Washington Metro area among entrepreneurs, workers, small businesses, and local government,” said Alison Powers, Cooperative & Community Initiatives Manager at Capital Impact Partners. “People want to know more about cooperative democratic ownership and the opportunity to build wealth. Capital Impact Partners wants to demonstrate the effectiveness of grant funding to accelerate the progress of start-up and existing co-op businesses.”

Historically, communities developed co-ops to create sustainable work, community-led micro economies, and truly affordable housing. Cooperatives are on the rise again today, as reflected by the D.C. area’s burgeoning co-op community. The benefits that cooperatives provide are particularly important in the context of the economic hardships brought on by COVID-19. 

“During this COVID crisis, it is more important than ever for our communities to have a greater stake in our own health and financial well-being,” stated Clarice Manning of Community Grocery Cooperatives. “We envision the development of the co-op as a gateway for more economic opportunities and leadership empowerment for Ward 7 and 8 residents.” 

“The impact of the grant will be huge because during the pandemic, there is still food that needs to be made, and there are still businesses that need commercial kitchen space,” noted Pinkey Reddick with D.C. Kitchen Cooperative. “In our first pilot location, we need some extra refrigeration because we’re already at capacity. It will be awesome to get funds to help house some infrastructure. So, this is super exciting right now.” 

The awardees are:

• Bloc by Block News will launch a news portal (platform media co-op) in Howard County, Maryland.
• Community Grocery Cooperative is organizing a cooperative, consumer-owned grocery store in Ward 7 or 8 that will provide local healthy food to residents that is affordable, sustainable, and reliable. The funding will be used to launch a mobile pop-up shop to test locations and products, engage with residents, and build momentum for a permanent location. 
• Community Kitchen Cooperative (CKC) plans to launch a cooperatively-operated, commissary kitchen space. CKC has engaged Dreaming Out Loud to steward alumni from its accelerator program into this cooperative commissary space. This co-op will serve as a model that is focused on quality jobs and cost savings through collective capacity. 
• The D.C. Pop-Up is a collaborative of D.C.-based makers who create products through the Made in D.C. program. Their goal is to provide a cooperative retail space for owners to sell their products and increase brand exposure. D.C. Pop-Up will utilize this grant to formally organize as a cooperative. 
• Earth-Bound Building is a worker cooperative in Prince George’s County, MD. Earth Bound Building will use this grant to subsidize a four-day Intensive Timber Framing workshop, with the goal of creating a safe educational environment for new builders to develop new skills that are in high demand in the region. 
• The Farm Cooperative (name TBD) is a collective of three people who operate local farming operations through Three Part Harmony Farm (DC), flowers x flores (DC), and Deep Roots Farm (MD). This collaborative creates connections between urban and rural farm systems. The grant would enable them to transition to operating as a cooperative, formalize their operations, and fund corresponding legal expenses.
• Starseed Earthroot is a collective of activists looking to be a catalyst for land access, food sovereignty, and restorative agricultural practices. This grant will build capacity and leadership structures that align with their vision, allowing members to acquire skills that have been hard to access in many professional spaces.

The inaugural D.C. Co-op Impact Grant, and partnership with Capital Impact Partners, is an important component of support that Wacif is providing to entrepreneurs through the D.C. Employee Ownership Initiative, which Wacif launched in 2018 together with Citi Community Development. In addition to employee ownership conversion support, the D.C. Employee Ownership initiative provides financial capital, like the D.C. Co-op Impact Grant, and knowledge capital, in the form of advisory services, to aspiring employee-owners.

The D.C. Co-op Impact Award represents just one part of Capital Impact’s strategy to promote the cooperative model to increase access to jobs, food, and housing in communities. Over its history, Capital Impact has disbursed more than $305 million dollars in financing to more than 221 cooperative businesses serving 870,000 customers. Capital Impact works to amplify the potential of the co-op model for all people through technical assistance, grant funding, and financing for capital projects. Capital Impact’s place-based strategy also works to build the ecosystem for food, housing, and worker cooperatives in the Washington Metro area. 

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Capital Impact Partners’ Mission-Driven Work in the Fourth Quarter of 2019

Written by Michelle Betton on March 16, 2020. Posted in Press Release

March 16, 2020 (Arlington, VA) – In the fourth quarter of 2019, Capital Impact Partners’ work with communities through financing and investment efforts served nearly 138,000 beneficiaries and created nearly 750 permanent and construction-related jobs.

Over the course of 2019, Capital Impact’s mission-driven work supported nearly 165,000 community members and created more than 2,100 permanent and construction jobs. Our work also:

• Addressed the need for quality charter school education for more than 1,500 students;
• Created nearly 1,300 homes for individuals and families; and
• Provided nearly 16,000 patients with quality health care.

Third-party Recognition and Strengthen Partnerships

Our success in creating impact with communities led to strengthened partnerships and important validation. For the second straight year, Washington, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has named Capital Impact Partners as a manager of the District’s Housing Preservation Fund (HPF). Capital Impact was awarded a $3.3 million grant as part of this announcement, which we expect to leverage at a 3:1 ratio to deploy an additional $13 million in loans to help preserve more than 340 homes across the District. To date, Capital Impact has preserved 860 homes through the Fund.

And for the third consecutive year, ImpactAssets named Capital Impact to its ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50), a publicly available, online database for impact investors, family offices, financial advisors, and institutional investors that features a diversified listing of private capital fund managers that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns. In 2019, Capital Impact released a new $150 million offering of its S&P “A” rated Notes to investors.

Lending Highlights for the Fourth Quarter of 2019

Capital Impact’s $67.2 million in financing for the fourth quarter of the year spans several states, including California, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Texas, and Washington, D.C. This effort helped increase access to quality health care for all, create new educational opportunities in communities, address affordable housing needs, expand access to healthy food, and create spaces for communities to prosper.

Working within and becoming of our communities, our social impact in the fourth quarter of 2019 includes:

Scaling Affordable Housing

Affordable housing continues to be a crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area. Capital Impact is proud to participate in the Bay’s Future Fund, part of the Partnership for the Bay’s Future, which aims to produce and preserve affordable housing for communities across the region. February 2020 marked the first anniversary of this seminal partnership.

At the end of 2019, we provided $2.6 million as part of a $5 million loan with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), to support Allied Housing and Abode Services to acquire a three-acre property in Hayward, CA. The funding will allow for the construction of a 126-unit supportive housing facility, which will focus on formerly homeless persons with serious mental illness or other disabilities. This project aims to build community among the residents, with community rooms and outdoor recreation space as some of the amenities. Importantly, the supportive housing will provide access to a broad array of services, including vocational and employment assistance, primary health and dental services referrals, and comprehensive service plans.

In the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, local developers are working to develop a 68,923-square-foot property into a multifamily development that will benefit the entire community. The Bourgogne Bywater project will construct 70 one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental units, and 6,807 sq. ft. of commercial/retail and pool space. As part of an agreement with the city, seven of the multifamily units will be held as affordable at 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), consisting of five one-bedroom units and 2 two-bedroom units. Additionally, the building will restrict seven more units to 120 percent AMI. Due to market pricing, the building is projected to have a total of 36 units (51 percent) be affordable for 112 percent AMI (i.e. workforce housing).

The developers are working with the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (“NOCCA”) regional high school to offer first rights of refusal to teachers and administrative staff for the workforce housing units. Capital Impact provided $5 million as part of a $15.9 million loan, with partners LIIF, Blue Hub Capital, and Partners for the Greater Good participating. The loan will support a catalytic investment that will increase the mixed-income housing stock and encourage further economic development.

Cascade Park Apartments, a 132-unit, multifamily rental property located in southeast Washington, D.C., has experienced a long period of poor living conditions for residents, high vacancy rates, and operating losses. Capital Impact provided $8.9 million as part of a larger financing package to Dantes Community Partners, a D.C.-area affordable housing developer, to preserve the affordability of the property for its approximately 429 residents. Dantes Partners will also work to improve property management and address immediate repairs.

Located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, a building on Champlain St. has provided extremely affordable housing to individuals and families for years. The neighborhood has experienced increased home prices, putting this vital resource at risk. When the building came up for sale, Capital Impact provided a $6.5 million loan and worked with MED Developers to acquire the building so that tenants who wanted to remain in their homes and community could do so through Washington D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. The loan will allow the developer to make critical repairs to the 30-unit building while maintaining deep affordability of the building rents.

Washington D.C.’s southeast quadrant has a significant need for affordable housing in its communities. Capital Impact provided an $836,000 acquisition loan to return borrower Banneker Ventures, a D.C.-area affordable housing developer, to develop The Clara on MLK Jr. Ave SE. The loan will help Banneker Ventures acquire a vacant commercial building in the Anacostia neighborhood, part of an assemblage where Banneker intends to construct a new, 100 percent affordable, 81-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail.

Capital Impact closed more than $5 million in construction financing, $2.4 million of which came from our Detroit Neighborhoods Fund, to finance 40 Hague. The financing will be used to convert 40 Hague — a former Packard Automobile Showroom in Detroit’s North End neighborhood — into 38 rental units, with eight of those units reserved for households earning less than 60 percent AMI.

The Parker Durand is a 92-unit, rent-restricted, mixed-use development located at the northeast corner of Kercheval and Van Dyke in Detroit’s West Village neighborhood. The Parker Durand will provide rental housing to households experiencing significant economic hardship, including those earning 50 percent AMI. Financed by Capital Impact and led by the Roxbury Group and Invest Detroit, the $22.5 million, new construction development will additionally provide four retail spaces prioritized for locally owned businesses.

Financing the Parker Durand was made possible by bringing together local, state, and national government funding; philanthropy through Detroit’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund; and Capital Impact Partners’ $4.8 million Capital Magnet Fund award, received from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund. Capital Impact used this award to seed a $48 million fund to create and preserve affordable rental housing throughout Detroit and Wayne County.

New York City’s history of high housing costs has led to a long history of housing co-ops. In 2004, Capital Impact provided a $653,954 loan to a housing co-op at 278 East 7^th Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for acquisition and construction. Last year, we provided a $548,623 loan to refinance the original loan.

Increasing Access to Health Care

El Dorado County Community Health Center (EDCCHC) is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves nearly 11,000 patients in El Dorado County, California, part of the Greater Sacramento area. EDCCHC primarily serves seniors with low incomes, pregnant women, and people seeking substance abuse care; approximately 60 percent of its patients live below the federal poverty level (FPL).

In 2018, El Dorado purchased land with plans to build a new health center, expanding its number of exam rooms from 26 to 40. Through our CPCA Ventures Loan Fund, we provided a $1 million loan to help EDCCHC with funding for working capital needs, such as predevelopment costs associated with developing the newly acquired site. The loan also supports the refinance of a 2015 CPCA loan to EDCCHC.

Centro Medico Community Clinic, Inc. (CMCC) is an FQHC Look-Alike located in Riverside County, California. CMCC has two existing service sites in Corona and Riverside, California, where it served 4,715 patients in 2018. All of CMCC’s patients have a family income at or below 200 percent of FPL and 80 percent live at or below 100 percent of FPL.

Capital Impact provided a $400,000 loan through our CPCA Ventures Loan Program to support CMCC in expanding its Corona site (“Corona I”) into an additional 6,461 sq. ft. of leased space (“Corona II”). Capital Impact’s loan will cover tenant improvements, furnishing and equipment, migration of EMR systems, and IT-related equipment and staff training associated with the new Corona II location. CMCC’s expansion includes nine exam rooms and new administration offices. It will double CMCC’s existing medical capacity and allow CMCC to serve approximately 1,700 new patients annually.

Expanding Healthy Food Access

In southern California, Numero Uno Markets provide healthy food options to residents across Los Angeles County. A repeat borrower of Capital Impact’s, Numero Uno operates 13 supermarkets serving communities with low-and-moderate incomes. Using funds from a previous Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) award, we closed a $2 million participation in a $7 million loan from the National Cooperative Bank, which will help Numero Uno acquire 11 grocery stores, seven of which are either in an area designated by the USDA as a Food Desert or in a low-income area adjacent to a Food Desert.

Providing High-Quality Education

Detroit School for Digital Technology (DSDT) is a woman-owned vocational institution, training Detroit residents in technical skills like coding, Information Technology repair, and digital arts. A large percentage of DSDT’s 148 students are veterans or individuals living with criminal records. Capital Impact provided $886,500 to help DSDT purchase the facility in southwest Detroit that it had previously rented. Financed in partnership with Invest Detroit, this project enabled DSDT to establish a permanent home to continue fostering educational opportunities.

The Schools of Science and Technology in Texas aim to create safe and healthy learning environments that guide students through development of creative and critical thinking and learning skills and enables them to apply these skills through cooperative and interactive instruction. SST offers a student-centered, rigorous educational program with a strong emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and operate a collaborative learning environment. Capital Impact provided Building Hope with $4 million as part of an $18 million loan for this project; PNC is the co-senior lender with Capital Impact. The campus will ultimately serve 750 students in grades K-8.

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Capital Impact Partners Named to ImpactAssets Ninth Annual IA 50 Impact Investment Fund Manager Showcase

Written by Michelle Betton on February 25, 2020. Posted in Press Release

February 25, 2020 (Bethesda, MD) – For the third consecutive year, ImpactAssets named Capital Impact Partners to its ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50), a publicly available, online database for impact investors, family offices, financial advisors, and institutional investors that features a diversified listing of private capital fund managers that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns.

Capital Impact, a leading mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution, began offering its Capital Impact Investment Notes in 2017, which allow retail and institutional investors the opportunity to invest in the organization’s nationwide efforts to create social impact for communities. Available for as low as $1,000, individual and institutional investors can purchase Notes through their brokerage accounts and earn a financial, as well as a social, return on their investments. In 2019, Capital Impact released a new $150 million offering of its S&P “A” rated Notes to investors.

“Capital Impact Partners’ work to build communities and places of opportunity is something that community members and investors alike can be involved in. We believe that is how change is made. To be recognized by ImpactAssets as an organization that is continually advancing this work is an honor. It is encouraging to see community development organizations being steadily integrated into the broader impact investing movement,” said Natalie Gunn, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer for Capital Impact Partners.

Capital Impact will use proceeds from the Capital Impact Investment Notes primarily to support projects focused in the health care, education, affordable housing, and community development sectors in communities nationwide. These efforts are part of Capital Impact’s work to foster good health, job creation, and economic development. 

The Notes are available at fixed interest rates with maturities that range from 1-10 years through Incapital LLC, a leading underwriter and distributor of securities. The Prospectus, Pricing Supplements and information about how to invest are available to the public on Capital Impact’s website and to financial professionals through Incapital’s Legacy™ platform, which offers products to investors that align financial goals with personal principles through values-based investing.

“With record applicants and assets under management, the IA 50 continues to reflect the rapid growth and interest in impact investing,” said Jed Emerson, ImpactAssets Senior Fellow, and IA 50 Review Committee Chair. “This year’s showcase includes eleven impact funds with more than $1 billion in assets under management. And to ensure we’re capturing the best future ideas, we’ve added emerging impact managers, who have the hunger, creativity, and a willingness to explore alternatives that more seasoned fund managers may not.”

The IA 50 2020 saw a record number of private debt and equity fund manager applications. Managers who met the IA 50’s in-depth review criteria manage an estimated $39.8 billion in assets devoted to creating measurable, positive impact, up from $26.9 billion in 2019. Emerging impact managers direct nearly $400 million into cutting-edge strategies and high impact investments.

“The IA 50 is a proven and trusted way for investors to start exploring a subset of managers that are already working in this area and determining what interesting impact investments an investor can make today,” said Sandra Osborne-Kartt, CFA, Director, Investments, ImpactAssets. “We are excited by growing investor appetite as well as the diverse array of impact themes and strategies represented by this year’s list.”

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Partnership for the Bay’s Future Marks One-Year Anniversary: Public-Private Partnership Exceeds Initial $500 Million Goal to Preserve, Produce, and Protect Affordable Housing

Written by Michelle Betton on February 4, 2020. Posted in Affordable Housing, Press Release

February 4, 2020 (Redwood City, CA) – Bay Area elected officials, community, faith, and business leaders, and philanthropic funders marked the first anniversary of the Partnership for the Bay’s Future by announcing the recipients of the Partnership’s first-ever “Challenge Grants” to seven Bay Area local governments and nonprofit partner organizations that are developing innovative housing policies. The Partnership also announced commitments that will allow it to reach its $500 million investment goal ahead of schedule and has already closed seven loans to entities building new affordable housing or preserving existing affordable homes.

The Partnership for the Bay’s Future is a unique cross-sector effort to tackle housing issues in the Bay Area with a dual-pronged approach: supporting policies that preserve and produce affordable housing and help protect renters through its Policy Fund, and directly investing in projects that will create more affordable homes through its investment arm, the Bay’s Future Fund. The Partnership launched in 2019 with the ambitious goals of protecting 175,000 households over five years and preserving and producing more than 8,000 homes over the next decade in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties.

“The housing crisis requires bold action on multiple fronts and it requires that all sectors come to the table to drive new solutions—the government, the private sector, philanthropies, advocates, and faith leaders,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “The Partnership for the Bay’s Future and its multi-sector public-private approach reflects that—and will help move our state forward on one of the biggest issues we face.”

“The Bay Area poses one of the largest challenges we face in creating solutions that address the affordable housing crisis,” said Diane Borradaile, Chief Lending Officer at Capital Impact Partners. No one organization can go it alone. That is why we are thrilled with the leadership shown by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, along with the San Francisco Foundation, Ford Foundation, and LISC to bring together these new investors. Their support amplifies our ability to deploy the financing tools that mission-driven developers need to deliver projects that impact and help families who have deep and abiding connections to the Bay Area.”

“All Californians deserve a place they can call home, where they feel a sense of belonging in their community, and where they can build a better future for themselves and their families,” said San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell. “The Partnership for the Bay’s Future enables Bay Area communities to help residents live in homes they can afford through its focus on local policy change and investment in building and preserving affordable homes, as well as protecting renters.”

Challenge Grant Recipients: Protecting Renters and Preserving Affordable Homes

The Partnership’s first group of Challenge Grant recipients were on hand for today’s anniversary event. The grantees are local government entities and community organizations working to advance policy solutions to protect renters and preserve existing affordable housing:

• Alameda County and Resources for Community Development
• City of Berkeley and East Bay Community Law Center
• City of East Palo Alto and the East Palo Alto Community Alliance and Neighborhood Development Organization (EPA CAN DO)
• City of Oakland and the Bay Area For All (BA4A) Preservation Table
• City of Palo Alto and SV@Home
• City of Redwood City and Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
• City of San Jose and SOMOS Mayfair

Proposed policies are an innovative collection of approaches to the region’s housing problems, including new systems to provide renters and communities with the right to purchase affordable homes before they are sold to outside investors, ensure county-wide protections for renters, and establish new approaches to building community wealth. As part of the Challenge Grant award, each grantee jurisdiction has been matched with a mid-career fellow. The fellows will provide needed capacity and expertise to accelerate solutions, and grantees will have access to technical assistance and expert consultants to help them implement policy changes identified in the grant proposals.

Investing in Affordable Homes

The Partnership’s Bay’s Future Fund has garnered commitments from a spectrum of investors and partners who have pledged resources, including Facebook, Morgan Stanley, CZI, First Republic, San Francisco Foundation, Genentech, Silicon Valley Community Foundation and others. LISC, serving as fund manager, is partnering with Capital Impact Partners and the Corporation for Supportive Housing to co-invest additional resources. As one of the nation’s largest affordable housing investment funds, the Bay’s Future Fund is designed to address the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area with flexible, innovative financial products.

“Investors are connecting their capital to their values in order to make Bay Area housing more affordable and anchor economic opportunity throughout the region,” said LISC president and CEO Maurice A. Jones. “And, this is just the beginning. We have a robust pipeline of development projects, a committed lineup of local partners, and a diverse group of investors from health care, finance, technology, and philanthropy — all focused on ways to positively impact the housing outlook for families and to keep communities competitive.”

To date, the Bay’s Future Fund has closed seven loans totaling nearly $30 million that will produce or preserve more than 800 units of housing — providing shelter for 1,800 individuals — 97 percent of which are affordable to households earning less than 80 percent of the Area Median Income. These investments leverage an additional $100 million in funding from other sources. The transactions are supporting a range of housing strategies, including permanent supportive housing, co-living spaces, senior housing, and housing that is affordable by design. Projects include new construction, renovation, and preservation.

“The Partnership for the Bay’s Future is uniquely positioned not only to bring flexible capital to the table to substantially grow the number of affordable homes in the region, but also to champion policies that will both increase housing and protect vulnerable renters,” said Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Director of Housing Affordability, Caitlyn Fox. “While we’ve made notable progress, the work has just begun. The future of the Bay Area depends on collaborative efforts to ensure that people of all backgrounds and income levels can live, work, and thrive here.”

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Capital Impact Partners Joins with Washington, D.C. Government Once Again to Preserve and Expand Affordable Housing

Written by Michelle Betton on January 17, 2020. Posted in Press Release

January 17, 2020 (Washington, D.C./Arlington, VA) – For the second straight year, Washington, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has named Capital Impact Partners as a manager of the District’s Housing Preservation Fund (HPF). DHCD’s new $10 million in Preservation Funds, when leveraged by the fund managers that also include LISC and the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), will bring the fund to a record $116 million. Capital Impact was awarded a $3.3 million grant as part of this announcement, which the organization expects to leverage at a 3:1 ratio to deploy an additional $13 million in loans to help preserve more than 340 homes across the District.

Mayor Muriel Bowser launched the fund in 2018 to increase the preservation of affordable housing in the District by supporting the efforts of organizations like Capital Impact to provide low-cost and flexible financing to mission-driven nonprofit and for-profit developers working on multifamily housing projects in the District. 

“This is our affordable housing goal. We looked at what is happening in our region and city. People want to live in our city and region,” said Mayor Bowser. If we are going to continue the type of growth that we have, then we have to continue robust, neighborhood-sensitive” investment.

“It is our challenge to be more creative in leveraging all of our resources, whether public or private, to preserve existing affordable housing,” said DHCD Director Polly Donaldson. “We are delighted to have partners that can help increase our capacity to preserve more affordable housing in the District. We have a lot to be proud of, but there’s more work to do.”

In just its first year, Capital Impact leveraged its grant from the city to deploy more than $28 million in financing to support five projects and help protect 860 affordable homes. This directly supported an estimated 1,960 residents, 1,948 who have low-to-moderate incomes. Combined with the efforts of a second HPF manager, LISC, the number of homes protected in the first year far exceeded the Mayor’s initial goal of 1,000.

A unique aspect of the program is how it works to support the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). The Act gives residents of multifamily buildings that are up for sale the right of first refusal to buy their properties, allowing them to work with mission-driven developers to purchase the buildings. This helps keep rents affordable.

“Building communities of opportunity requires that all residents have access to affordable places to live and thrive,” said Diane Borradaile, chief lending officer at Capital Impact. “That is why we are thrilled DHCD has entrusted us once again to preserve affordable housing in key communities across Washington, D.C. in partnership with mission-driven developers.” 

2019 Housing Preservation Fund Impact Stories

“This innovative tool is delivering more than we actually thought that it could. We are leveraging the fund to $137 million. The Preservation Fund has preserved 1,300 housing units. What does that correlate to? We are really talking about housing units and families,” said Drew Hubbard, deputy director for operations at the D.C. Dept. for Housing and Community Development.

These new funds will allow Capital Impact to continue to quickly provide short-term financing for acquisition, critical repairs, environmental remediation, and predevelopment costs to eligible borrowers. Properties targeted for fund investments are occupied multifamily housing of at least five units, in which at least 50 percent of units are currently affordable to households earning 80 percent or less of the Median Family Income (MFI).

In 2019, Capital Impact partnered with a number of mission-driven developers and long-time residents on a variety of high-impact housing loans, including:

• Ridgecrest Village: Originally built in 1951, Ridgecrest Village is a community of 273 apartment units that house approximately 900 residents in Washington, D.C.’s Congress Heights community. About 10 percent of residents within the complex have lived there affordably since the 1970s, and 90 percent of residents earn 60 percent or less of MFI. When the complex owner decided to sell, the Ridgecrest Village Tenant Association assigned their TOPA rights to The NHP Foundation to ensure long-term affordability of the Village’s units and make way for tenant-designed improvements. Capital Impact provided $7.5 million as part of $31 million in financing with Chase and W.C. Smith to support the purchase of the property as well as future improvements preserving the affordability. Now this community can control its future and financial stability, and can take advantage of an increasing amount of amenities across the city.
• Worthington Woods: Also located in Congress Heights, Worthington Woods is preserving affordable housing for residents with lower incomes. The community has 394 units of affordable housing for more than 900 renters. It is also near shops, groceries, and three bus lines. The Worthington Woods Tenant Association assigned their TOPA rights to the Montgomery Housing Partnership (MHP) in exchange for a commitment to preserve the property as affordable, make improvements, and help tenants remain. Capital Impact provided MHP with a $6.1 million loan as part of a $40 million transaction including financing from Sandy Spring Bank to purchase the property.
• 1101 Euclid: Located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, which has experienced a rapid loss in affordable housing, this building had fallen into disrepair. Through HPF, Capital Impact provided a $3.2 million loan, helping the tenants work with developer Banneker Ventures to acquire their building and make critical repairs while maintaining affordability for up to 78 residents.
• Cascade Park: Cascade Park Apartments, a 132-unit, multifamily rental property located in SE Washington, D.C., has experienced a long period of poor living conditions for residents, high vacancy rates, and operating losses. Capital Impact provided $8.9 million as part of a larger financing package to Dantes Community Partners, a D.C.-area affordable housing developer, to preserve the affordability of the property for its approximately 429 residents. Dantes Partners will also work to improve property management and address immediate repairs. 
• 2384 Champlain St NW: Located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, this building has provided extremely affordable housing to individuals and families for years. The neighborhood has experienced increased home prices, putting this vital resource at risk. When the building came up for sale, Capital Impact provided a $6.5 million loan and worked with MED Developers to acquire the building so that tenants who want to remain in their homes and community can do so. The loan will allow the developer to make critical repairs to the building while maintaining deep affordability of the building rents.

This work builds on Capital Impact’s other efforts in D.C. where the organization has invested more than $137 million in Washington, D.C. to support multiple projects delivering critical social services. This includes working with a variety of partners and organizations, including Martha’s Table and Terrace Manor Apartments in Ward 8; Unity Health Care in Ward 5; and the District of Columbia International School and residents of Takoma Place Apartments in Ward 4. Based in Arlington, VA, Capital Impact has disbursed more than $2.7 billion to communities nationwide since 1982.

Capital Impact was selected from responses to a DHCD solicitation in August 2019 that outlined the following duties: 1) leverage public funds with private and or philanthropic funds to provide loans to borrowers for eligible activities; 2) market, underwrite, originate and service the preservation loans; 3) ensure compliance with the terms of the Housing Preservation Fund; and 4) coordinate monthly with DCHD on the use of the Housing Preservation Fund.

Mayor Bowser’s Commitment to Affordable Homes

Today’s announcement was part of Mayor Bowser’s “New Year, New Housing” initiative. The goal of HPF is to aid in achieving the policy objective of the DC Housing Preservation Strike Force: preserving the affordability of 100% of the District’s existing federally and city-assisted affordable rental homes. It offers eligible borrowers short-term financing for the pre-development and acquisition of occupied multi-family properties with more than five (5) housing units and half of the households earning up to $77,600 for a family of four.

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