LISC To Deploy $6.25M from CDFI Fund to Expand Access to Healthy Food, Fuel Infill Development
The CDFI Fund announced $408M in funding for 357 CDFIs to provide financial products and services for underserved individuals and communities.
NEW YORK, NY (Sept. 27, 2024)—This week, the CDFI Fund awarded LISC $6.25 million through two key programs: the Healthy Foods Financing Initiative ($5 million) as well as the base Financial Assistance program ($1.25 million). LISC will use the funds to subsidize eligible loans to borrowers across the country for a range of projects—lowering interest rates, providing credit risk mitigation opportunities and seeding lasting gains for underserved people and communities.
For example, LISC utilizes funding from the Healthy Foods Financing Initiative (HFFI) to support retail projects that expand access to healthy food in and around food deserts. Since 2012, LISC has leveraged nearly $22 million in HFFI awards at a 13.9x rate to support 35 projects and 845,000 square feet of food-related retail space. That financing has helped eliminate 20 food deserts.
In addition, LISC has leveraged Financial Assistance (FA) awards to support a range of new financial products. The 2024 funding will support predevelopment loans for developers working with public and quasi-public entities to redevelop infill lots. These high-impact projects tend to be riskier and costlier than other types of development because of their “reuse” nature, often running into substantial obstacles, like environmental concerns. But they are also vital to efforts that revitalize disinvested communities and need affordable financing to move forward.
Since 2013, LISC has leverage over $8 million through Financial Assistance to support 79 projects focused on climate resiliency, charter schools, rural investments and small business development, among others.
Read the full CDFI Fund announcement, which includes more than $408 million in funding below: