Reinvestment Fund Spring Newsletter 2026
Reinvestment Fund at 40: $295 Million Invested Across 39 States
Reinvestment Fund’s Annual Report is now available, illustrating a year of collaboration in which our lending, grants, and research worked together across 39 states and Washington, D.C. We are proud to share that we lent or granted $295 million in 2025, marking our 40th year as a mission-driven financial institution.
The year’s work included several notable milestones. Reinvestment Fund welcomed the inaugural HBCU Brilliance Initiative Cohort — a first-of-its-kind program for HBCU leaders, pairing up to $1M in financing and $40K in grants per institution with technical assistance and peer learning. Our neighborhood-level research analysis helped inform Philadelphia’s $800 million housing bond commitment, one of the largest in the city’s history. Through the HFFI FARE Fund, we awarded $16.5 million to 62 food retail and supply chain projects nationwide, backing projects spanning cooperative grocery markets to food hubs serving Tribal communities. And when federal SNAP benefits were disrupted, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker called on Reinvestment Fund to help administer emergency food access grants; within weeks, we distributed $2 million to 139 organizations that supported 7,700 households across the city.
The report also reflects how Reinvestment Fund’s footprint continues to expand across the country. In 2025, Reinvestment Fund supported the construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of 422 homes across Georgia, including Freedom’s Path Augusta III — 76 supportive housing units for veterans on the Norwood VA Medical Campus. Our Policy Solutions team also published new research on mortgage access disparities across the five-county Atlanta metro, contributing to a national body of work on how credit markets shape who can access, afford, and build wealth through homeownership.
In 2025, Reinvestment Fund showed up as a community partner more than 235 times — at town halls, neighborhood tours, panel discussions, and groundbreaking ceremonies. Forty years in, the work continues alongside our partners and neighbors who shape it.
Investing in Early Childhood Education, from Research to Results
Reinvestment Fund’s investment in early childhood education continues to deepen, reflecting our model that moves from data to capital to provider support. In February, our Policy Solutions team published the latest annual analysis of child care supply and demand in Philadelphia, a series now in its twelfth year due to support from the William Penn Foundation. The 2025 findings show the childcare landscape stabilizing after several challenging years: capacity increased for the first time in three years, demand grew considerably, and the city’s high-quality sector added over 1,200 new seats. However, with federal resources for early childhood education increasingly uncertain, the report suggests that robust local investment systems have never mattered more.
That research directly informs our programming. In March, Reinvestment Fund launched the Rising Futures Expansion Fund, a $1.2 million grant program to help Metro Atlanta child care providers grow capacity — one of the first programs of its kind in the region. “Childcare providers shape the futures of our youngest children, but too often without the financial tools and support to grow quality care,” said LaToshia DeVose, Managing Director of Early Childhood Education. “The Rising Futures Expansion Fund is designed to help Metro Atlanta providers expand in a thoughtful, lasting way.”
In Florida, our Early Learning Quality Fund, made possible through support from the Bainum Family Foundation, put a $400,000 forgivable loan to work at PromiseLand Preschool, adding 21 new spots and a STEAM learning lab for children of families experiencing homelessness. In Philadelphia, Reinvestment Fund launched the Sustainable Economic Empowerment and Development (SEED) Fund, providing family childcare business owners with financial coaching, retirement planning support, and microgrants. Provider stability is inseparable from the quality of care children receive.
News & Resources
- Welcome to new Reinvestment Fund staff Rachel Posner, Rita Ouimet, Matthew Simon, Devin Welsh, Tiffany Nixon, Natalie Smith, and Samantha Dayton to Reinvestment Fund’s team.
- In Southeast Atlanta, our flexible financing is helping a local developer revive a vacant building into Valry at Cleveland—32 well-designed homes with rents capped for deep affordability. Reinvestment Fund’s reputation built trust with neighborhood stakeholders who saw a lender focused on uplifting rather than extraction.
- Our new report explores how co-design can strengthen efforts to address the social determinants of health by centering community leadership in decision-making. The report draws on nearly a decade of learning from Invest Health, a Reinvestment Fund–led initiative for cross-sector collaboration to advance healthier communities, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
- In Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Manna Food Cooperative expanded into a new downtown space with support from the USDA-funded Healthy Food Financing Initiative’s Food Access and Retail Expansion (FARE) Fund.
- Reinvestment Fund announces CEO transition and succession planning. Don Hinkle-Brown will step down after 15 years as President & CEO; remaining in his position throughout a national search period—ensuring a seamless transition.
- In an op‑ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Reinvestment Fund’s Christina Alexis outlines a coordinated, capacity‑building approach to strengthening HBCUs as anchors for community development and shared prosperity.
- Through a partnership with the Level Field Facilities Fund, Reinvestment Fund is expanding access to early-stage facilities funding so charter schools can grow and serve students sooner.