Rep. Zoe Lofgren Announces Over $2.6 Million in Federal Funding for Small Business Development and Affordable Housing Programs
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose, Calif.) announced today that two San Jose based community development organizations will receive federal grant funding totaling nearly $2.7 million for small business development and affordable housing. The two grants, each valued at $1.347 million, are being awarded by the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institution's (CDFI) fund to the Opportunity Fund and the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County.
"This is more than just funding, it's federal investment in our community that helps new businesses open their doors or young families purchase their piece of the American Dream with a home to call their own," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren. "By serving communities and markets that traditional lenders cannot, the CDFI-backed programs help entrepreneurs and potential homebuyers get their start. This benefits our entire community as those businesses grow to hire more people and families are able to invest for their future through responsible home ownership."
The $1.347 million CDFI grant awarded to the Opportunity Fund will support the growth of the organization's small business lending program. The funding will help the Opportunity Fund nearly triple their business lending, from $7.6 million in Fiscal Year 2012 to a projected $23.5 million by Fiscal Year 2018. The Opportunity Fund is a not-for-profit that provides small business loans, microloans, Individual Development Accounts, and development services to small business owners, students and families in the four-county San Francisco Bay area.
The $1.347 million CDFI grant awarded to the Housing Trust will be leveraged for its lending capital programs to increase the supply of affordable housing by assisting first-time homebuyers, neighborhood stabilization and homelessness prevention. Since 2001, the Housing Trust has leveraged similar funds invested in its capital programs into over $1.88 billion dollars to create more than nine-thousand housing opportunities in Silicon Valley. The Trust's programs have helped more than 2,000 families purchase their first home, assisted more than 3,000 people from seniors to those with special needs with affordable rental housing, and moved more than 3,500 homeless people off of the streets and into housing.
Rep. Lofgren has been a supporter of the CDFI's targeted investment initiatives that benefit small businesses and consumers alike. Earlier this year she wrote a letter of support to Congressional appropriations leaders who oversee the CDFI program urging them to fully support the initiative. Rep. Lofgren also previously volunteered as the co-Chair of the Housing Trust.
# # #
