TRF
For 30 years, TRF has pursued one mission: the equalizing of opportunity in communities where need is high, but resources are scarce.

2.1 million people

From our supermarkets and charter schools to affordable housing and commercial real estate, 2.1 million people have benefited from TRF’s work.

The Sisters of St. Francis


A conversation with Sister Nora Nash of the Sisters of Saint Francis, TRF investor for 30 years and counting.

“We support TRF because they look at building communities that will be sustainable.”

A mission to create safe, affordable and vibrant neighborhoods


Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) is one of the nation’s oldest, most effective associations of grassroots organizers. TRF’s partnership with IAF and its local affiliates began in 1994, and our relationship has only grown stronger over the years. With Philadelphia Interfaith Action, a consortium of more than 40 religious associations, we invested in a zero-interest loan pool that constructed 135 affordable homes in West Philadelphia through its Nehemiah Homes project.

In 2006, TRF and IAF affiliate, Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), created TRF Development Partners, an organization with a mission to foster safe, affordable and vibrant neighborhoods.

“If you want to rebuild a community, you’ve got to have something more than money. You need organized people who have the capacity to hold institutions accountable. Something like the Nehemiah project doesn’t happen because of our money or technical assistance. It’s happening because the mayor sat in a church where several thousand people presented the idea to him.”

— Jeremy Nowak, TRF founder

After an extensive community engagement and planning process, in 2009, TRF DP began redevelopment in East Baltimore’s Oliver neighborhood where vacancy exceeded 40%. By late 2014, TRF DP had brought over $28 million in local investment, completing 150 homes for families and rebuilding the neighborhood. We expect vacancy rates to decline to 8% by the end of 2015.

Today, TRF Development Partners has over 740 homes developed or underway in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Build from strength


Bishop Douglas Miles is a community organizer with Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development.
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Food access and jobs for Camden


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“One year ago, when Pathmark closed, it left many people doubting, could we relocate a supermarket to this same site? A promise made is a promise kept today. This project and others like it will be the catalyst for the Comeback City.”

— Mayor Dana L. Redd, Camden

This Price Rite is the first new supermarket to open in the city of Camden, NJ, since 1969. With funds from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, TRF provided a grant that supported job training—70% of employees are local hires in a city with over 13% unemployment.

Increasing educational attainment


“Not only did EHTP help me find and get into a great school, but they are continuing to support me now that I am in college.”

— Floricet Diaz, EHTP College Scholar

East Harlem continues to have one of the highest poverty rates of any neighborhood in New York City. In 2014, TRF helped East Harlem Scholars Academy and its after school program, East Harlem Tutorial Prep, expand to serve 700 more students. We provided $12 million in New Markets Tax Credits and a loan toward this $37.6 million project. In 2013, 96% of kindergarten students were reading at grade level by the end of the school year, compared to just 4% who started the year at grade level. Among high school seniors in the after-school program, 95% graduated on time and enrolled in a 2- or 4-year college.

A healthy living center


The TRF-financed Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services Center in North Philadelphia sees 40,000 patients every year.

“Our mission is to serve a vulnerable population, but there’s a second piece to our mission and that’s to be an exemplary community site for the education of students. We have students from many disciplines: nursing, physical therapy, nutrition, couple’s and family therapy and creative arts therapies. One of the exciting things about the expansions is that these students are going to be able to work with each other.”

— Patricia Gerrity, Director, Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services