CDFI Fund Awards Over $28 Million to CDCU Movement - National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions

(July 18, 2011- New York, NY) Low- and moderate-income communities across the nation will soon receive a boost to their local economies thanks to awards totaling more than $142.3 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell who traveled to Chicago to join U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S Representative Danny Davis at the Fulton-Carroll Center, a CDFI on the Near West side of Chicago, announced 155 awards today, including 25 awards to credit unions totaling nearly $25.7 million.

The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) also received $1.5 million, as did the North Carolina Minority Support Center, a Durham, NC-based CDFI, supporting CDCUs across North Carolina.

Credit union awards represented 18.06% of the total CDFI Fund awards under this round, and all but three of the credit unions receiving awards are Federation member CDCUs. A full breakdown of awards is available below.

Federation President/CEO Cliff Rosenthal broke down the numbers further. “We are delighted at the strong showing of CDCUs in the new round of funding from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund,” he said. “CDCU winners, plus awards to the Federation and our colleagues at the North Carolina Minority Support Center, totaled nearly $28.7 million. The 25 awards to credit unions out of 155 total awards to all CDFIs represent 18.06% of awards. The total amount of $28,696,617 made to credit unions and credit union support organizations, compared to the $142,302,667 made to all CDFIs, represents 20.17% of award dollars. This is a very good showing for our movement by historical standards.”

Robin Romano, CEO of MariSol Credit Union in Phoenix, Arizona, which was awarded $750,000, commented on the significance of today’s announcement. “This award from the CDFI Fund is our first ever and will allow us to open a remote branch in a primarily Hispanic supermarket, where we hope to open new accounts and get the word out about our services. We also plan to use some of these funds to make micro-business loans and to develop an affordable first time homebuyer loan for our members in the CDFI Fund's target areas,” she said. “We are a recently certified CDFI, and the Federation's assistance in helping us receive our certification and apply to the Fund was indispensable!”

“The Federation has fought long and hard to ensure that CDCUs continue to receive their fair share of CDFI awards,” explained Rosenthal. “Today we've seen a more equitable distribution with some of the largest number of awards to CDCUs in recent years, including various credit unions new to the Fund,” he said. “These awards will bring major impact to the communities served by CDCUs and CDFIs generally. We want to especially thank and congratulate the CDFI Fund for announcing the awards at such an early date. We know the challenges that the Fund faced as a result of the budget process, so it is especially commendable that they achieved this milestone,” he added.

CDFI Fund Core (FA & TA) Awards Credit Unions FY2011

Credit Union	City	State	FA Amount	TA Amount	Totals
Alternatives FCU	Ithaca	NY	$1,500,000
ASI FCU	Harahan	LA	$1,500,000
Brooklyn Cooperative FCU	Brooklyn	NY	$1,500,000
Choices FCU	St. Louis	MO		$70,450
Communicating Arts CU	Detroit	MI	$1,500,000
Community CU of S. Humboldt	Garberville	CA	$258,250
CoVantage CU	Antigo	WI	$1,500,000
Episcopal Community FCU	Los Angeles	CA		$65,564
Fairfax County FCU	Fairfax	VA	$1,500,000
First Legacy FCU	Charlotte	NC	$1,500,000
Freedom First FCU	Roanoke	VA	$850,000
Hawaii First FCU	Kamuela	HI	$1,242,690
Holy Rosary CU	Kansas City	MO		$93,044
Hope FCU	Jackson	MS	$1,500,000
Industrial CU of Whatcom County	Bellingham	WA	$1,500.000
Latino Community CU	Durham	NC	$1,500,000
Lower East Side Peoples FCU	New York	NY	$1,500,000
MariSol CU	Phoenix	AZ	$750,000
Mendo Lake FCU	Ukiah	CA	$1,500,000
People for People CDCU	Philadelphia	PA	$599,990
Self-HelpCU	Durham	NC	$1,500,000
Shreveport FCU	Shreveport	LA	$1,200,000
Total CDCUs (22)			$24,400,930	$229,058
Total CDCU TA & FA					$24,629,988

Non-Member Credit Unions
Coshocton FCU	Coshocton	OH		$47,002
Pelican State CU	Baton Rouge	LA	$962,760
Xavier University EmployeesFCU	New Orleans	LA		$56,867
Total Non-member CU (3)			$962,760	$103,869
Total Non-member CU FA & TA					$1,066,629

Total CU CDFI FA			$23,863,690
Total CU CDFI TA				$332,927
Total CU CDFI Awards (25)					$25,696,617

Non-CU Support Organizations
National Federation of CDCUs	New York	NY	$1,500,000
North Carolina Minority Support Center	Durham	NC	$1,500,000
Total CU Support Orgs (2)			$3,000,000

Total Member CDCUs and Support Orgs			$25,900,930	$229,058
Total Member CDCUs & Support Orgs TA & FA (24)					$27,629,988

Total CUs & Support Orgs TA & FA (27)					$28,696,617


Total 2011 CDFI Fund FA & TA Awards					$142,302,667
Total Institutions					155
Total CUs					25

CDCUs % of Total awards					16.13%
CDCUs % of Total award $					17.31%
CUs % of Total award $					18.06%
CUs & Support Orgs % of Total award $					20.17%