Treasury Awards $4.4 Million for Native Americans

Treasury Awards $4.4 Million for Native Communities in 
2009 Round of the Native American CDFI Assistance Program 

CDFI Fund Director Gambrell Highlights Long-Term Commitment to Native Communities

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund today announced $4.4 million in financial assistance awards to 10 CDFIs through the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program.  The awards, which are being made with fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriated dollars, are designed to encourage the creation and strengthening of certified CDFIs that primarily serve Native American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.  The awardees are located in eight states - Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

“The growth in Native CDFIs is a remarkable accomplishment and their increasing reach and impact within the Native Communities they serve have been tremendous,” said CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell.  “We are committed to working with Native CDFIs to increase economic opportunities and bring all Native Communities into the nation’s economic mainstream.  I am confident that the CDFI Fund’s new five-year Native Initiatives Strategic Plan, which lays out our long-term, comprehensive strategy to overcoming the barriers to capital in Native Communities, will greatly advance these commitments.”

Further signaling the growing importance of the CDFI Fund’s Native Initiatives among policy makers, the Obama Administration’s FY 2010 budget formally requested funding for the Native Initiatives, marking the first time funding for this effort has been specifically included in a budget request to Congress.

This past July, the CDFI Fund announced $8 million in Recovery Act awards, and $3.3 million in Technical Assistance-only grants utilizing FY 2009 annual appropriations for the NACA Program.  Today’s announcement completes this year’s round by awarding the remaining appropriated funds to the most highly rated applicants in a combined pool that included: 1) applicants that submitted applications in response to the supplemental Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) published on April 28, 2009 in the Federal Register; and 2) applicants that applied under the initial FY 2009 NOFA published on October 1, 2008 but did not receive a Recovery Act award in the first funding announcement.

About the Native Initiatives

The CDFI Fund's Native Initiatives work to increase access to credit, capital, and financial services in communities by creating and expanding CDFIs primarily serving Native communities.  This is achieved through two principle initiatives: 1) a funding program – the NACA Program – targeted to increasing the number and capacity of existing or new Native CDFIs, and 2) a complementary series of training programs, called “Expanding Native Opportunities,” that seeks to foster the development of new Native CDFIs, strengthen the operational capacity of existing Native CDFIs, and guide Native CDFIs in the creation of important financial education and asset building programs for their communities.

Organizations funded under the NACA Program serve a wide range of Native Communities, and reflect a diversity of institutions in various stages of development - from organizations in the early planning stages of creating a CDFI, to tribal entities working to certify an existing lending program, to established CDFIs in need of further lending capacity.

For more information about these awards, or about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the Fund's website at: http://www.cdfifund.gov.

To view the new Native Initiatives strategic plan entitled, "Building Native Leaders for Tomorrow" please click here.  

2009 NACA Program Awards