As the mayor of the nation’s first self-described Community Development Financial Institution Friendly Community, Mayor John Hamilton traveled Tuesday to the South Bend Century Center in South Bend, Indiana, to talk with mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg about his city becoming the second.
At the conference titled “Investing in Our Future: Expanding South Bend’s Commitment to Inclusive Economic Growth,” the mayors participated in a panel discussion with financial and civic leaders from the city to discuss potential ways to implement CDFIs in the community as Bloomington has.
CDFIs are financial institutions such as banks, credit unions and loan providers that give funding to underdeveloped areas in a community. Becoming a CDFI Friendly Community means a CDFI organization pairs funds from around the country with causes that benefit the community.
A nonprofit named CDFI-Friendly Bloomington launched Dec. 17, 2018 with $4 million for Bloomington projects. According to CDFI-Friendly Bloomington's website, the organization connects CDFIs with projects in Bloomington.
“CDFIs concentrate on areas that are underserved,” said Yael Ksander, communications director for the City of Bloomington.
CDFI funding will go to projects such as community centers and job incubation, Ksander said.
In Bloomington, CDFI funds may be used to tackle affordable housing, Ksander said. She said housing is expensive because the people building houses are targeting students and making a profit. This is a problem CDFIs are out to fix.
“Projects they invest in don’t max out the profit, they max out community value,” Ksander said. “It is a really great way to attract financing to things that are really hard to fund.”
