How you can help in the COVID-19 crisis

The communities we serve are feeling the deep financial and social impacts of COVID-19. At Reinvestment Fund, we have been reaching out personally to our borrowers and partners and learning about the specific challenges they face. We’ve also heard from our community of investors that they want to help in a meaningful way.

We are financially strong and the diversity of our portfolio is a powerful asset at this time. For example, the grocery stores in our portfolio are seeing increased business, but our arts and culture projects that support the social fabric of communities are deeply affected. Our approach has been to connect and listen as we tailor solutions for every borrower.

Our goal is to alleviate as many of the immediate financial pressures as we can in order to preserve these community assets. We have many tools in our arsenal including deferral and forbearance but most of all, we bring patience and flexibility.

How to help

Support our borrowers through our core loan fund
Many of you have reached out asking about ways to help. The following are some ways to support our borrowers through our core loan fund, 100% of which is directed to community projects and will support some of the approaches outlined above:

• Donate through JustGive.org or contact us for wiring options.
• Invest through our fixed-income, promissory note – demonstrating that our circle of supporters is growing is a powerful point in our advocacy efforts with the public sector and our efforts to attract new institutional investors.

Existing investors have a few more options. Contact us at invest@reinvestment.com or 215-574-5819 if you would like to:

• Donate all or a portion of your current investment.
• Donate the accrued interest from your investment.
• Elect to reinvest rather than receive annual interest payments.
• Elect to take 0% interest on your investment.
• Increase the term of your investment – lengthening your commitment helps us to be a patient lender.

Support the business of our borrowers
You can also support the business of our borrowers who are struggling to remain operational. Learn more about how to do so and the response activities they are implementing.

Support the cities we serve
Finally, there are a growing number of emergency relief funds that have been established in our major markets:

• PHL COVID-19 Fund
• Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund
• Baltimore COVID-19 Evolving Community Needs Fund

News & Resources

Resource: Use PolicyMap to see where cases of COVID-19 are rising the most rapidly in the new COVID-19 section of the tool’s “Health” menu.

News: The Community Reinvestment Act is essential to the work of CDFIs and its impact is substantial. We support the need to suspend the rule making process during the pandemic.

News: The Philadelphia Emergency Fund for Stabilization of Early Education (PEFSEE) is offering grants of up to $20,000 to support immediate relief for early childhood education providers.

Resource: The home-based child care sector is playing a critical role during the COVID-19 crisis. Explore the Home-Based Child Care Emergency Fund toolkit, for action funders can take now to support this essential service.