To Brandon Primeaux, the Fare & Square supermarket in the city of Chester will offer more than just healthy food to residents who have lacked it for years; it will also help to transform a community that has long been abandoned by major food retailers.

The market, operated by the hunger-relief nonprofit organization Philabundance, has its scheduled opening in the Fall of 2013. And it will be a welcome addition to a community that struggles with deep poverty issues — a city with one of the highest rates of poverty in the country.

Its presence — and the fresh fruits, meats and vegetables it will sell — will make it easier for people to shift their diets away from easily available processed foods. Since the last supermarket closed several years ago, convenience stores have been the only food retailers in town, says Primeaux, a supervisor in the Chester office of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and a volunteer liaison between Philabundance and the city.

“Food access is a growing and complex problem across the country and in the Delaware Valley, and one that requires a complex solution,” said Bill Clark, president and executive director of Philabundance. “We’ve worked on this concept for years, and we are thrilled to see it coming to fruition to help the residents of Chester.”

Primeaux hopes the market will also help residents feel better about a city where supermarket chains have been scared off by a high crime rate, and where residents have been forced to travel miles to buy food at supermarkets in other communities.

“Not to have something as simple as a supermarket in your area, it robs people of a sense of dignity,” Primeaux said.

For years, Primeaux has had to drive about five miles from his home on the east side of Chester to a supermarket in Brookhaven to shop for groceries. For his neighbors who don’t have cars, getting to the market requires taking one or two buses in a trip that takes at least half an hour, he said.

People often team up for shopping trips to supermarkets in other towns, especially at times when food stamps are sent out to Chester’s many welfare recipients, Primeaux said.

In an effort to attract shoppers who have few other options, the new supermarket will offer fresh foods at competitive prices. The project obtained financing from TRF and the Nonprofit Finance Fund using New Markets Tax Credits, a federal program to incentivize equity investment in low-income areas.

“We could not open Fare & Square in Chester without the help of our countless partners in this project, including TRF who helped with the financing of the project,” said Clark.

“With the realization of this initiative, the residents of Chester will now have access to affordable and nutritious food right around the corner.”

Primeaux himself became a convert to a healthy diet about two years ago when he was dangerously overweight. “I was on the brink of death,” he said. Now, at 37, he has lost 60 pounds by cutting out processed foods, exercising, and cooking for himself. Once Fare & Square opens, he plans to try to lose another 25 pounds and reach his target weight.

He’s hoping that the new supermarket will help people eat more healthfully, not only by making better food available but also by offering tips on how to prepare it. Together, the food and the skills may encourage people to revive the home cooking and family mealtimes that have often been abandoned by those who work two or three jobs to make ends meet, he said.

“Fare & Square has the potential to transform people’s thinking so that people are more attracted to healthy diets,” he said.

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In 2012, TRF played a critical role helping a group of housing advocates revive Pennsylvania’s widely successful Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program — better known as HEMAP.

The popular program, launched in 1983 and managed by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), has saved thousands of homeowners from losing their homes to foreclosure. One of those homeowners is Nancy Thompson, a 47-year-old single mother in a suburb of Pittsburgh. Nancy moved into her childhood home after her parents’ death, taking over payments on a reverse mortgage. Disabled herself, and raising a child with cerebral palsy, it became impossible for Nancy to keep up with the payments.

“I didn’t know where to go. I applied for a loan modification, and my bank told me I was all set. That I should just pay the lower, adjusted payment, and that everything would work itself out when my paperwork came through,” said Nancy. “But then they turned me down for the loan modification, and I was in the red.”

Nancy’s bank eventually served her family with a foreclosure notice. That’s when she found HEMAP.

“HEMAP helped me get back on the right track. They put me on a plan that is easy to pay back, and that is the only reason we have survived,” said Nancy.

HEMAP’s impact positioned it as a national model for other states to replicate. But despite its phenomenal track record and impact, funding was eliminated in July 2011 and homeowners began to suffer.

Almost immediately after HEMAP was cut, housing advocates collaborated to make the case to reinstate it. They organized and formed the PA Save Our Homes Coalition. Coalition member and Executive Director of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania Liz Hersh said the group had assembled a number of compelling stories about homeowners in crisis but they quickly recognized they would need solid data to make their case for reinstatement. They turned to TRF to develop a data-driven report that could demonstrate HEMAP’s significant impact across the state. The William Penn Foundation provided funding for the effort.

Hersh said they got much more than they ever expected. TRF’s analysis was influential, showing the benefits and impact of HEMAP and the costs of foreclosure to homeowners, lenders, state revenues, and to the wider economy. The case was so strong that it served as the catalyst to help persuade state officials, led by (former) Attorney General Linda Kelly, to fund and restart HEMAP using Pennsylvania’s proceeds from the national mortgage servicer settlement. After a year of dormancy, HEMAP was restarted in mid-2012.

Hersh remembered being completely overwhelmed by what TRF found and how the report presented it. “I was blown away,” she said. “I was especially taken with the data that showed the impact on the banks… we had no idea.” In fact, TRF’s report found that the program saved lenders, homeowners, local government, and adjacent property owners $77,000 per foreclosure. The bulk of the savings went to the banks — $50,000 per foreclosure.

The economic costs of foreclosure extend beyond the immediate stakeholders to other homeowners, whose values will be dragged down, especially if foreclosure is widespread, and local services which will be hurt by the reduction in property tax, noted Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Analytics, and a TRF Board member.

“Foreclosures are very, very costly for everyone involved,” Zandi said.

“The TRF analysis showing the clear economic benefits of averting foreclosure was a vital component of the state’s decision to restart HEMAP.”

TRF’s mission and track record of serving low-income communities gave it the credibility and expertise to make a convincing case for continuing the program, and at a far lower cost than that likely to be charged by a major consulting firm, Zandi said.

“You probably shouldn’t, as a policymaker, renew a program like that unless you have some clear evidence it works,” he said. “The TRF data were essential in convincing state officials to revive it.”

Nancy’s family is one of thousands that benefited. “When you’re a single mother, raising kids on a low income, and someone tells you that they’re taking your home, there is no worse feeling. I would go to bed not knowing where we would be living the next day,” said Nancy. “I believe in HEMAP. HEMAP saved my home.”

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In New Orleans, TRF’s Market Value Analysis (MVA) tool is already allowing city planners to make better-informed decisions about where to direct dwindling development funds. The new data may be helping to make the case for change.

In the past, when forced to decide whether to demolish a blighted property or invest in it, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) relied on an informal assessment of the neighborhood and how the area was likely to be affected by either course of action.

Using the MVA tool, which came on line in March 2013, the Authority now can rely on extensive metrics on the neighborhood in question, such as the median sales price, subsidized rental units as a percentage of the overall rental market, and the percentage of homes that are owner-occupied.

“It helped substantiate and reinforce many of the things that we knew anecdotally,” said David Lessinger, NORA’s Director of Planning and Strategy. “Now we have solid data on which to base our decisions. It shows we’re not making decisions capriciously.”

“We knew that certain neighborhoods were more disinvested than others, that certain neighborhoods had higher foreclosure than others, but we didn’t really have the data to support it,” he said.

Using the New Orleans MVA, the Authority can now make better decisions to reach its strategic goals in an environment of limited government funds. NORA’s task is partly driven by post-Katrina damage but also by pre-existing urban blight, reflecting what Lessinger said is four decades of disinvestment.

NORA owns close to 3,000 properties. Although many of them are unlikely to be put on the market any time soon, they will nonetheless be analyzed by the MVA process in order to develop a more accurate picture of how specific development decisions will influence the Authority’s strategic goals.

In addition to blighted land assessments, the tool also allows NORA to identify the location of key city investments such as schools, parks and libraries in relation to the market types described by the MVA.

Knowing that a school is in a neighborhood that shows signs of “disinvestment” as evidenced in the MVA may encourage the Authority to invest in housing or prioritize maintenance of empty lots so that children don’t have to walk past blighted property on their way to school.

“The goal is to be more strategic and continue to deliver more impact with fewer resources,” Lessinger said.

In the case of properties that will be retained rather than sold or demolished, using the MVA will allow the Authority to budget for their maintenance until they are sold.

In addition, the MVA provides an overview of the city, indicating the strength or weakness of adjoining neighborhoods.

“It shows the gradient,” Lessinger said. “That’s really useful because you can see more comprehensively where your strong markets are, especially where they bump up against weaker markets.” The tool also shows disinvested markets, allowing planners to make decisions in order to prevent blight from spreading to surrounding areas.

The MVA has also shown officials that the city as a whole is in better shape than previously believed, Lessinger said.

“The most surprising thing was that there were fewer really, really weak markets than we expected,” he said. “It’s going to be the baseline that we use to inform much of our planning.”

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Samantha Romero wants to be an astrophysicist, and with the support she gets at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington DC, she’s on her way to achieving that goal.

Samantha, 15, excels in math and science. She has a grade point average of more than 3.5 in chemistry and completed an advanced placement (AP) college-level class in ninth grade.

Her success in chemistry, in particular, is fueled by a new science laboratory, equipped with smart boards and workstations, which is housed in the school’s TRF-funded high school facility. Samantha also participates in the Think Tank, a room on the second floor of the newly constructed facility where ninth- and tenth-graders gather for morning meetings and other events. The Think Tank is designed to build community and make sure all students feel included and appreciated.

Now in 10th grade, she’s taking more AP courses in pursuit of her career goal, and the new facility’s college-preparatory environment is helping her reach for the stars.

Already a high flyer at E. L. Haynes, Samantha finds extra support through her membership in Team Academic, an invitation-only study group for the most able students. They seek to boost their performance by studying together outside of regular school hours, including weekends.

“Just to do that shows that she is striving to do better,” said Darnell Almanzar, her advisor. “For a teenager to give up eight hours on a Saturday to study shows her commitment.”

Almanzar said science-oriented students like Samantha have benefited from the new chemistry lab, while others have expanded their horizons in the new art and music rooms, or the huge gymnasium, all of which are housed in the TRF financed facility.

Regardless of their individual interests, all students have discovered new enthusiasm for learning in the new school buildings located on E.L. Haynes’ two campuses, which have been made possible through a series of loans from TRF. In 2012, TRF’s most recent financing supported the expansion of E.L. Haynes’ Kansas Avenue campus to include the high school, Almanzar said.

“Just the space has allowed Samantha and her fellow students to do well,” he said.

Many students showed improved attitudes toward learning when they moved from their previous cramped, temporary school buildings to the new facilities.

“Once we got into the new space, it was just a culture shift,” Almanzar said. “In a new building, you know that people care about you and that you are here to learn.”

Students clearly appreciate going to school in a higher-quality space, and that’s reflected in improved academic results, he said.

“The kids respect the space, and they use the space really well,” he said.

For Samantha, the new school building with its improved facilities has given added impetus to an already successful student, and encouraged her to pursue her dreams.

“I always wanted to be an astronomer or anything that had to do with the stars,” she said. “I also liked physics a lot so it was the perfect combination.”

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In 1850, the Cedar Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia was built amidst farmland just outside the city’s center. Over a century’s time, however, acres of farmland gave way to housing developments, and residents of the neighborhood were left without the healthy foods and fresh produce of years past.

Frustrated community members joined together to address the scarcity of fresh food and, in 1971, Mariposa Food Co-Op was founded.

“Mariposa was started when the community identified its needs, and then came together to meet those needs and formalize that through a co-operative structure,” said Esteban Kelly, Mariposa’s Coordinator for Organizational Planning and Development. “Now, our members have to continually take a look at our own needs, as well as the broader needs of the community, and figure out how to step up and serve those needs.”

One of the most obvious needs that Mariposa has recently seen is meeting the neighborhood’s demand for fresh produce and healthy food. Although the members had always expected steady growth, a recent boom of activity forced the co-op to consider major expansion. Mariposa turned to TRF for assistance in acquiring, renovating and equipping a new, larger space.

TRF provided a loan to partially finance the acquisition and renovation of a new space, just a few blocks from its existing location. Opened in March 2012, the new store is five times the size of the previous space and offers an expanded selection of locally-produced, organic, and conventional products. Sales have skyrocketed, and the expansion of the co-op has increased the impact Mariposa can have as a community hub. Vacancies near the co-op have dissipated and new businesses have opened including the popular Little Babies Ice Cream. And, since Mariposa is owned and operated by its nearly 1,550 members, all profits will stay in the neighborhood.

“It’s really important that institutions and communities themselves invested and continue to invest in projects like this, because the economic impact is amplified.”

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A number of communities in the TRF “family” saw exciting firsts in 2012. Punxsutawney, PA, was one. The financing of the new Primary Health Network Health Center (PHN) was a significant highlight for the rural community known internationally for Groundhog Day.

Now “Punxsy” will be known by its residents as a town that is making the health and wellness of its citizens a priority.

In 2012, TRF, PHN and an impressive number of partners, made sure the newest PHN center became a reality. PHN is a private, nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that began providing community-based comprehensive medical care in 1984. The organization now has 32 service sites in 11 northwestern Pennsylvania counties and two northeastern Ohio counties, making it Pennsylvania’s largest FQHC. In recognition of its high-quality care, PHN has been Joint Commission accredited since 1997.

PHN’s new facility is being modeled as a health and social services Multi-Service Facility where the FQHC is the anchor tenant. Located in the heart of a small town in rural Jefferson County, the new 45,000 square foot building will house PHN’s primary care center, a pharmacy, services from the local community hospital, women’s health, behavioral health, a café and a public meeting room for community use.

After struggling to secure financing from traditional banking sources, TRF came through. “There is no luck in business. There is only determination and the development of partnerships with organizations and people who share a similar vision and drive,” explains Jack Laeng, PHN’s CEO. “TRF is such a company with people who understand the mission of health care and our desire to initiate positive change for the communities we serve.”

Mr. Laeng’s quote alludes to the nature of the FQHC business. While exceptionally reliable borrowers, FQHCs cannot accumulate assets similar to regular private businesses. This makes it difficult to raise funds for development or carry reserves to be the equity for projects. Local banks in today’s lending environment are averse to lending to projects with limited assets or equity.

TRF’s financing package included New Markets Tax Credits. JPMorgan Chase was the investor, and the purchase of the tax credits provided equity for the project. With support from the Kresge Foundation, TRF and its partner in health center financing, the Low Income Investment Fund, provided a senior leverage loan for the transaction. TRF also supplied financing at a lower interest rate for the project’s energy efficiency measures through the Pennsylvania Green Energy Loan Fund and bridged a state capital grant.

The PHN Punxsutawney project serves as a great example of the kind of partnerships that TRF seeks to develop. While TRF brings great resources and expertise to the table, it’s about “the whole” — everyone, every entity that cares about the individuals who are better served because of strategic alliances and people who are willing to work hard to make things happen.

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William Coombs has lived in Buford Manlove Manor in Wilmington, Delaware for the last ten years. As a senior, his apartment in the 40-unit affordable housing community for elderly is so much more than a place he lives in retirement — it has become home. It’s his “neighborhood” — his own community with friends, activities and information.

So in early 2012 when the site managers announced the complex was going to be renovated and residents needed to temporarily relocate, Mr. Coombs did not feel very excited or comfortable. Change is not easy for aging individuals who like their routines and familiar surroundings. But on move-in day, Mr. Coombs felt differently — that it was worth the wait.

TRF Development Partners and Ingerman Development partnered with Interfaith Community Housing to rehabilitate the outdated and tired apartments. The renovation project would also create a new community center and laundry facility. Since the housing community was completely occupied, the developers began a complex task of phased rehabilitation, relocating residents, like Mr. Coombs, into temporary housing while restorations were underway.

The move back after the renovations was just a short drive. As Mr. Coombs opened the door to his newly renovated apartment, he let out a quiet, “wow.” He stepped onto the hardwood floors, and took in the changes to his apartment bathed in natural light.

As he made his way to his accommodating back patio, a smile grew across his face, “I have a couple different grills and a smoker I’m going to have to set up for the summer.” He looked around outside and noticed the new light fixtures offering him and his neighbors added security at night, something he requested before the renovation came in.

As he came in, he looked at his new kitchen one more time, opening every cabinet while nodding in approval. “They did a good job. I’m impressed,” he added as he began to unpack his kitchen supplies, making himself at home again.

Buford Manlove Manor is a good example of TRF’s work — delivering capital that helps transform lives and rebuild neighborhoods. Here, TRF worked with a network of investors and business partners to make sure seniors can live with greater dignity in affordable housing that is so much more than an apartment. It’s a home that brings peace of mind and a sense of community.

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The City Arts development is a $17 million project which includes 85 new and rehabbed units in the 400 block of East Oliver Street in Baltimore’s Greenmount West neighborhood. TRF Development Partners’ analysis suggests that this development will have three important effects 1) improve economic diversity; 2) significantly reduce abandonment rates and improve safety; and 3) create greater stability and attract additional residents, which would increase the average sales values and stimulate market growth.

TRF DP co-developed the first phase of City Arts with Homes for America and Jubilee Baltimore, to create the 69-unit City Arts Apartments building. The project redeveloped a vacant block into quality affordable housing designed to serve local artists in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District. The City Arts Apartment building has received awards in two national competitions for Low Income Housing Tax Credit developments.

“By caring about the neighborhood and by caring about the people who are here — and caring about the properties that are here — that works. And it can make a difference to people and hopefully to even the city at large… and even more than that.”

The second phase of the development is the City Arts Historic Townhomes, which created 9 units of energy-efficient, two-bedroom rental homes. The homes, which are part of the City of Baltimore Commission for Historical & Architectural Preservation program, feature stained glass front door transoms and distinctive iron flower boxes created by artisans.

TRF DP has begun construction on the third phase of the development, the City Arts Studio Lofts (7 units). These for-sale townhomes are anticipated to be completed in 2013. These developments have created the City Arts residential development area, which converted an entirely vacant and desolate area into one of the city’s most vibrant and affordable residential developments serving local artists and community members alike.

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Newark Community Health Centers, Inc. (NCHC) is a private, nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that has been providing comprehensive primary care services to children and adults in the greater Essex County area of New Jersey for over 25 years. With six locations, NCHC is the largest health care provider for the uninsured and medically underserved populations in New Jersey’s largest city.

NCHC is transforming its headquarters facility in North Newark with a significant expansion and modernization that will increase capacity and improve accessibility. TRF financing in partnership with the Low Income Investment Fund and the Kresge Foundation will help the facility triple the number of medical exam rooms and double its dental suite.

“The community needs quality healthcare. They also need affordable healthcare. And so, if there wasn’t investment in Newark Community Health Centers to provide this service, then where would those people go? Where would they go?”

NCHC is managing the project so that there is no interruption to health services at the location during construction. With 23,000 patient visits in 2012, the newly expanded facility is expected to accommodate nearly 40,000 annual visits upon completion.

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Some decisions are made by “gut feel.” Others by consensus building. But decisions that have a direct impact on communities — and the residents and businesses that live and operate within them — should not be made by using only one or both of those strategies.

Unfortunately, some policy makers and others in the decision-making process that affect communities have had to rely on such strategies since reliable data wasn’t easily available.

In 2012, TRF and Citi Community Development brought their expertise and resources together to make sure that could change. Now, with the creation of My District Data, every policy maker in every Congressional district in the country can make decisions using accurate, targeted data. For free.

In the past, the irregular borders of Congressional districts forced policy practitioners to cull data from a range of sources across overlapping areas to produce an incomplete picture of economic, employment, financial, educational and housing conditions at the district level.

Developed for legislators and their advisers, as well as community organizations and local residents, the interactive, web-based tool aggregates a range of granular data — for the first time broken down to match the borders of Congressional districts — to present a district snapshot intended to inform smart policy-making.

My District Data aggregates data from 10 sources in one easy-to-use platform that presents a clear and consistent state-of-the-district analysis, and users can compare district-level statistics against state and national benchmarks. The inaugural My District Data report, launched in the Fall of 2012, focuses on workforce and jobs and offers district-level information on labor force and employment, workforce demographics, business climate, and educational environment.

Bob Annibale, Global Director of Citi Community Development and Microfinance, believes that My District Data complements the important data analysis work of the CFED Assets & Opportunity Scorecard as well as the FDIC Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households and recent US Census reports — and adds value by pinpointing similarities and disparities at the Congressional district level for the first time.

“By making critical data accessible and actionable, this tool will strengthen the connection between the national agenda and the local issues that drive it,” said Annibale.

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At the ribbon cutting for the new ShopRite store on West Landis Avenue in Vineland, N.J., Mayor Ruben Bermudez called out to the crowed, “Thank you for believing in Vineland. We have a lot of things finally coming our way.”

Mayor Bermudez was thanking the Bottino family whose ShopRite store now anchors a 79,000-square-foot retail center in one of the most distressed neighborhoods in Vineland. In addition to the ShopRite supermarket, the shopping center, which stands on what once was a salvage yard, also includes a Federally Qualified Health Center and three other retail spaces.

The new facility, which replaces an older, smaller store elsewhere in Vineland, made it possible to retain 135 jobs as well as create an additional 100 new ones, 50 percent of which were filled by residents from the surrounding community. The developer partnered with the Cumberland Salem Workforce Investment Board to recruit those jobs. The store is located in a census tract with an unemployment rate of 12.5 percent, and in an area of Vineland where residents have limited access to a supermarket.

The Vineland neighborhood, according to TRF analysis, lacked adequate access to healthy food such as fresh fruits and vegetables. There were plenty of fast-food outlets while full-service grocery stores were blocks away and hard to reach.

The data gave the community what it needed to make the case for change — and it happened.

TRF provided over $9 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing for this project. TRF also provided $2 million from federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative funds and $2.5 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the New Jersey Food Access Initiative. In addition to construction, the financing also supported the purchase and installation of equipment for the Bottino family ShopRite.

Jim Bottino, president of the four-store Bottino ShopRite chain, spoke about what drove the difficult project: “Our decision to develop this project was out of concern for our Vineland associates and the community at large,” Bottino said. “We believe our success is a direct result of our commitment to family and community.”

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In Baltimore, a landmark building in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District has been renovated with help from TRF.

The Chesapeake Building, a 30,000-square-foot property named for the former Chesapeake restaurant near the city’s Penn Station, was vacant for some 20 years, and surrounded by decaying real estate that deterred investors as much as it did shoppers and potential tenants.

“It was dilapidated, there were many vacant buildings,” said Ernst Valery, president of Ernst Valery Investments Corp., the developer who bought the property in 2010 from the Baltimore Development Corporation.

Valery needed a loan to complete the project, but was turned down by banks and other lenders who saw the project as too risky, especially as it was anchored by a restaurant, whose industry has a notoriously high failure rate.

“Conventional lenders couldn’t understand it,” he said.

So he turned to TRF which provided a construction and permanent loan to fund the exterior renovations and build out the ground floor along with significant borrower equity and historic tax credit equity.

The project met TRF’s goal of helping to revitalize low-wealth communities. “They want to be involved with projects that contribute to communities,” Valery said.

That’s a goal shared by Valery, who aims to rebuild declining neighborhoods, and do so in an environmentally sustainable way, while also ensuring a good return for his investors.

“The bulk of what we do is in neighborhoods that are undervalued,” he said. “We develop real estate that goes beyond bricks and mortar.”

From the developer’s point of view, using the TRF funds rather than equity for a portion of the project’s costs allowed him to build a reserve for the restaurant before it established a client base. The restaurant opened in June 2013.

TRF’s funding will pay for renovation of the ground floor which will contain a café and market and a farm-to-table restaurant.

When complete, the building will also include office space for small businesses, and artist studios. In the lot behind the building, Valery and his partners are planning to build 80 apartments which will be provided at below-market rent — enabled by tax credits that are available to developers of blighted areas — to the artists that Valery is hoping to attract to the neighborhood. He plans to rent apartments to the “creative class” of tenants, such as those from the nearby Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

The project is a crucial piece to revitalizing the Station North neighborhood, which is a short walk from major public transit, including Amtrak and MARC commuter trains. Baltimoreans have also been eager to see this landmark building come back to life in a neighborhood that is home to several successful restaurants, an independent movie theater and a multipurpose art gallery. With TRF’s help, the historic Chesapeake (built in the 1890s) is poised to once again become a vibrant Baltimore destination.

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