The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund on Wednesday awarded more than $246.4 million for affordable housing and community facilities for low-income communities.
The awards, part of the Capital Magnet Fund, will help 48 organizations support financing for affordable housing and other economic development facilities like day care centers, workforce development centers and health care clinics.
“Today’s awards will increase affordable housing supply and expand access to child care and health care for families across America,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said. “These awards are projected to leverage nearly $9 billion in private and public sector resources to spur development in communities that need additional investment to create opportunities for communities to get ahead.”
Recipients of the grants are required to leverage the awards with other private and public investment by at least 10 to 1. Officials said the awardee’s expect to leverage more than $6.8 billion in private investment.
The awardees serve all 51 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. More than half of the awardees (52 percent) plan to invest at least some of their money into rural areas, with 12 of the organizations planning to invest at least a quarter of their award dollars there. More than half (25) of the awardees are Community Development Financial Institutions and 23 are non-profit housing organizations. The awardees were selected during a competitive review of applications from 136 organizations requesting more than $1.06 billion in funding.
The investments, the Treasury Department said, will result in more than 26,400 affordable housing units, including more than 25,600 rental units.