In this series about community development lending, we aim to shed light on the diverse types of loans we offer at Capital Impact Partners, in the hope that it will provide the clarity our borrowers need to make an informed decision about applying for a community development loan. In this first installment, we delve into the essence of predevelopment loans, exploring what they are and how developers and community leaders can utilize them to bring their community-centered projects to life.
In September 2023, the Momentus Capital team gathered in Washington, D.C. for its annual meeting to discuss the organization’s strategy for the coming year. As part of that process, President & CEO Ellis Carr hosted a discussion with Board Chair Gary Cunningham.
In their wide-ranging conversation, they discussed Gary’s long history working on community development issues, the importance of financial inclusion, the need to embed the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into this work, and the unique and innovative solutions that the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations are delivering to disrupt the financial sector.
We invite you to watch their conversation or read the accompanying transcript on the Momentus Capital blog.
For anyone seeking to access lending for community development projects, understanding the different types of loans can be confusing.
At Capital Impact Partners, our commitment to fostering positive social impact drives us to support mission-aligned real estate developers and community development leaders with a range of flexible and affordable financing solutions.
Our community development lending offerings include predevelopment loans, real estate acquisition loans, construction loans, working capital loans, refinance loans, New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) leverage loans, and NMTC Qualified Low-Income Community Investment (QLICI) loans.
Our loan products are designed to help our borrowers achieve their goals and revitalize disinvested and underestimated communities, whether that constitutes developing or preserving affordable housing, creating jobs through a small business, or building the resilience of communities through access to health care, healthy food, and education.
In this series of blogs, we aim to shed light on the diverse types of loans we offer and explore their significance within the context of Capital Impact’s mission-driven financing, in the hope that it will provide clarity to help borrowers make informed decisions about applying for community development loans.
Since the racial reckoning of 2020, the term racial equity has been used consistently to talk about the goal of organizations like ours. Racial equity works to address hundreds of years of injustice perpetuated on the basis of race in this country: from the Indian Removal Act to chattel slavery and Jim Crow to the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese internment, and so many other examples of discrimination and oppression. In this light, the need for racial equity is clear, but what about racial healing?
Read about how we, at the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, are working alongside our communities and partners to start the healing that is needed to build equitable, inclusive communities.
As we begin 2024, we at the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations want to thank all of you – whether you are a borrower, a partner, an investor, or a member of the Momentus community – for being part of our work to reimagine and build an economic system that includes everyone.
Read what our President and CEO, Ellis Carr, has to say about the impact you helped us create in 2023 and about the outlook for the year to come on the Momentus Capital blog.
Across the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, we know that to maximize our impact, we need to first understand it. Building and sustaining healthy, inclusive, and equitable communities requires capital and resources – but without measuring outcomes, it’s impossible to develop effective interventions at scale.
That’s why we’ve developed a comprehensive Impact Framework to help us track the results of not only our loan offerings but also the capacity-building programs, technical assistance, and tools that make up our continuum of capital (PDF).
This framework is at the center of our decision-making process as we work toward our mission of helping to build inclusive and equitable communities by providing people access to the capital and opportunities they deserve.
So, what are we measuring, and why?
To learn more about what we are measuring and why, read the full article on Momentus Capital’s blog.
Across the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, our mission is to ensure people and communities have the capital and opportunities they deserve to overcome a history of systemic disinvestment.
To support underestimated communities in achieving positive social and economic outcomes, we need a shared understanding of what that looks like, and why those outcomes are so important. This blog will outline how we at Momentus Capital define economic stability and why it is important, how it is tied to the other social determinants of health, and how we are working to promote economic stability through our work.
By Alexander McDonald, Senior Director of Lending Operations
For communities to thrive, they need resources — but too often, small business owners, developers, and local community development leaders lack access to the capital they need to drive progress.
Across the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations we are on a mission to change that through a community-first approach to lending grounded in our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. And for us, that includes much more than the actual continuum of capital we deliver, but also HOW engage with our borrowers and partners to do that. Every aspect of our lending operations is built on our values, which means taking out a loan from Momentus is a much different experience than borrowing from a traditional financial institution.
But our approach doesn’t just feel good. It also leads to exceptional outcomes. The secret to our success? Putting the borrower first with superior client service, competitive products, and scaffolded support.
And our lending operations team is at the heart of what makes Momentus unique.
To learn more about how our lending operations team works with borrowers and supports social impact, please read our full blog on the Momentus Capital website.
At Momentus Capital, we envision a future where everyone has the capital and opportunities they deserve – especially those who have been excluded from both for so long.
Our President and CEO Ellis Carr reflected on the contrast between Independence Day celebrations and a set of Supreme Court decisions that challenged promises about democracy, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness.
His reflections tackle a few areas:
How promises about democracy, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness have been shaken;
How these decisions will have negative consequences on fellow citizens who have faced long decades of discrimination; and
Momentus’ commitment to continue to speak and work in support of underestimated communities.
As the first quarter of 2023 unfolds, Momentus Capital team members are starting to see trends for an exciting year ahead. And while 2022 proved to be another rollercoaster ride for the economy and small businesses, our experts still forecast plenty of opportunities to make 2023 a groundbreaking year in mission-based lending.
In this year’s predictions, we take a deep dive into a wide range of topics, including how communities can lead the way to greater economic prosperity, how we can get more capital into the hands of small businesses, and potential legislative changes on the horizon. Ultimately, we remain focused on how these factors could impact our borrowers, partners, investors, and the communities we serve. This valuable foresight serves as a compass for existing entrepreneurs and those embarking on their ventures.
Please read the rest of this blog on the Momentus Capital website.
