Enterprise Community Partners announces today that its community development financial institution (CDFI), Enterprise Community Loan Fund (ECLF), was awarded more than $3 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). This year's award will support a new green predevelopment product that will offer developers flexible, low-cost capital for clean energy design scoping, energy audits, and other expenses necessary to advancing net-zero and energy efficiency projects.

“As economic headwinds continue to challenge the community development industry, CDFIs act as a lifeline, delivering essential financing to impact-oriented organizations. We commend our partners in federal government for recognizing their value,” said Elise Balboni, president of ECLF. “With these grants, ECLF will continue to offer innovative solutions that help our borrowers advance racial justice, promote climate action, and meet the urgent needs of low-income families across the country.” 

The grants come during a year of record-breaking applications: according to CDFI Fund Director Pravina Raghavan, the program saw a 40% increase in submissions. ECLF earned among the highest awards in Base Financial Assistance and Persistent Poverty Counties-Financial Assistance, and it was one of only 15 organizations to receive a Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance award. 

In total, ECLF received $3,085,000 in CDFI Fund grant awards, including:

  • $1.25 million in Base Financial Assistance (Base-FA)
  • $485,000 in Persistent Poverty Counties-Financial Assistance (PPC-FA)
  • $1.385 million in Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA)  

More than $408 million was awarded to 357 CDFIs as part of the 2024 Financial Assistance funding round for the CDFI and Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) programs. CDFIs will be able to use their awards for a wide range of activities that help grow and uplift the communities they serve, including expanding operations into new investment areas, providing new products or services, and serving new targeted populations. 

ECLF uses CDFI Fund awards to finance a broad spectrum of high-impact affordable housing and community-serving projects. Its investments have helped create or preserve more than 145,000 homes, facilitate 591,200 health care visits, create over 17,000 school seats, and develop 6.8 million square feet of community and commercial real estate.

Community Development Financial Institution