Strengthening Community Development Corporations

Community Development Corporations (CDCs) — non-profit, community-based organizations focused on revitalizing the areas in which they are located —are the lifeblood of community development work.

Despite this, during a focus group of Atlanta-based CDCs, we learned that CDCs face barriers to financing and need both financing and technical assistance to launch economic development projects.

To meet these challenges, LISC:

• Convenes CDCs to facilitate knowledge sharing and understand their needs and barriers
• Provides advisory support and capital to CDCs and the projects they support. This includes: Grants to CDCs to help cover staffing and operational costs; (2) Loans and equity to CDCs and/or their partner developers to support affordable housing and other projects; and (3) Grants and loans to neighborhood small businesses.
• Supports and encourages plans to launch an organization that will improve, unify, and coordinate place-based community development efforts in the City of Atlanta.