[CircleUp] CDFI Fund News: End of Fiscal Year Message from Director Donna Gambrell

[Info]

 <http://www.cdfifund.gov/who_we_are/director/directors_message.asp> Message
from the Director 
September 30, 2009 

 

Message from CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell 
September 30, 2009 

Today, as the CDFI Fund concludes fiscal year (FY) 2009, we look back on
twelve months of unprecedented challenges and many great accomplishments.
When the national economy was faced with the most severe economic crisis
since the Great Depression, the CDFI Fund was still able to take significant
actions to increase support for CDFIs and CDEs serving distressed
communities.  As the CDFI Fund begins a year-long series of 15th Anniversary
related events and initiatives, I am more confident than ever that the CDFI
Fund will be well positioned for another 15 years of growth and expansion in
the future.    

When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) passed on
February 17, 2009, the CDFI Fund was given an important role in supporting
the nation's economic recovery.  Our inclusion in this historic piece of
legislation represented an acknowledgment by Congress and the Obama
Administration of our unique contribution to promoting economic
revitalization in the most underserved communities across our nation.  The
speed and efficiency at which the CDFI Fund mobilized to implement the
Recovery Act provisions has been truly remarkable.  For making these and
other accomplishments possible, I would like to take a moment to express my
heartfelt thanks to our hardworking staff.  Without them, the
accomplishments of the last year would not have been possible.  

It is rare to find such an extraordinary high level of commitment and
dedication to assisting underserved populations and communities among so
many people.  It is rarer still to find an equally high level of talent and
ability among these same people.  The staff of the CDFI Fund exemplifies
commitment to public service at a time when the President has called on all
of us to participate in our nation's recovery and renewal by actively
serving in our communities.  This is why on September 23, 2009, the 15th
Anniversary of the CDFI Fund, there could be no more rewarding experience
than hosting a day of service, where the CDFI Fund staff volunteered to work
with four area non-profits that have benefitted from CDFI awards.    

Our ability to swiftly implement the President's Recovery Act agenda and
provide resources for distressed communities during the economic crisis did
not go unrecognized.  Upon release of our implementation plan, Vice
President Biden commented, "I commend Secretary Geithner and the Treasury
Department for moving quickly to implement these innovative programs to help
underserved communities.  They are exactly what the President and I had in
mind when we put forth the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."   

Within just 120 days of the Recovery Act's enactment, the CDFI Fund awarded
a total of $98 million in financial assistance grants through the CDFI
Program and Native American CDFI Assistance Program.  Subsequently, 100
percent of the funds were disbursed within 60 days of the award
announcement, enabling CDFIs to quickly expand lending activities.  In
addition, the CDFI Fund solicited and reviewed an aggregate total of over
200 new applications received under supplemental rounds of the CDFI and NACA
Programs.  Earlier this week, we announced the award recipients of $4.4
million through the NACA Program, and $52.7 million will be awarded later
this week through the CDFI Program.  The CDFI Fund also re-opened the 2008
New Markets Tax Credit Program application round to award an additional $1.5
billion of Recovery Act allocation authority within 100 days of enactment,
and closed all of the award agreements within 30 days of the award
announcement.  An additional $5 billion in New Markets Tax Credits for the
2009 round will be announced next month.  

As significant as they were, our achievements did not come as a surprise to
me because I know better than anyone the story of our staff's unparalleled
level of commitment.  Since I became Director two years ago, the depth of
this commitment has made a strong impression on me.  We are engaged in
promoting economic revitalization in distressed communities every day.  We
have a shared belief in an America in which all people have access to
affordable credit, capital and financial services.  While the economic
crisis worsened, and conditions in communities across the country became
more challenging, our fundamental motivation to provide enhanced support did
not waver - it only increased.   The Recovery Act provided us with an
opportunity to rise to the occasion.  The President's FY 2010 budget, which
will provide the CDFI Fund with even greater resources and programs, will
allow us to continue to fulfill our mission and further impact distressed
communities throughout the nation.  

Our contribution to combating the economic crisis was not limited to
awarding funds.  As the crisis deepened last fall, we took immediate action
to explore with our Community Development Advisory Board how the CDFI Fund
could best respond to the crisis.  The Advisory Board Subcommittee helped us
gain a better understanding of the impact the economic downturn is having on
the CDFI industry, and how we can best serve our industry and the
communities we serve.  

The Subcommittee gathered input from a wide representation of the community
development finance industry and formulated important recommendations that
were presented to the full Advisory Board and the CDFI Fund on March 5,
2009.  The CDFI Fund has made notable progress in implementing these
recommendations, the positive effects of which will be felt throughout the
community development industry.  From increasing the capacity of new and
existing CDFIs, to expanding training and outreach activities through a
newly created office, to enhancing affordable housing finance by securing
direct funding for the new Capital Magnet Fund, the hard work of the CDFI
Fund staff continues to advance economic recovery in distressed communities
in diverse ways. 

Throughout this past fiscal year and the economic crisis, the staff of the
CDFI Fund has demonstrated a level of commitment which I cannot praise too
strongly or too effusively.  Many have made personal sacrifices over the
days, weeks and months in which we worked together toward America's economic
recovery.  I commend their exemplary dedication to serving those communities
most in need of economic recovery and revitalization.  As federal employees,
they continue to uphold with their example the finest traditions of public
service.  

  _____  

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