Stories
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A hand up, not a handout, to cross the benefits cliff
Losing public assistance benefits when their income goes up incentivizes some workers to stay in low-paying jobs. It discourages others who are willing to work from joining the workforce. Explore the issue and what’s being done.
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Native CDFI Network uses Federal Reserve data to highlight the impact of investing in Indian Country
“Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) know the needs of the communities they serve. Placing the funds in the hands of those CDFIs produces better results,” says Pete Upton, Executive Director for the Native360 Loan Fund and interim CEO for the Native CDFI Network (NCN).
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Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
Experience Investment Connection—from pitch to impact—with small business owners, community organizers, and bankers, and the Federal Reserve community development experts bringing them together.
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Chapter 1: The Pitch | Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
“Banks and nonprofits need mutually beneficial relationships,” says Paul Woodruff. Investment Connection encourages organizations to highlight what both the nonprofits and the banks have to gain.
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Chapter 2: The Partnership | Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
The loan purchase program was a pilot, a new model that Dan Fagan hoped more banks could adopt. “We just decided that we were going to plow forward.”
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Chapter 3: The Impact | Investment Connection: Getting to ‘We Have a Deal’
In 2011, Ariel Cisneros from the Kansas City Fed invited Rob Smith to pitch at Investment Connection. In the three years following the event, Smith raised about $300,000. The funding came at a pivotal moment.
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Supporting families and nurturing Ojibwe culture, C’s Daycare stands out in Minnesota’s child care landscape
Banks partner with a community non-profit to help a small business owner upgrade and expand her child care facility.
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‘Tell me the story of your life.’ Alex Fuentes listens deeply as part of the American Voices Project
The American Voices Project began as a way to study US poverty. It has grown into a trove of personal narrative and oral history of how people across the US experienced the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Shonterria Charleston supports rural communities, even from a parking lot
For Housing Assistance Council, rural development issues include broadband access and helping veterans fund home improvement projects.
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Community bank provides critical capital so small businesses can stay afloat
CDFI helps two business owners in Philadelphia’s Chinatown find a lifeline, and a partner, right in their own backyard.