Reinvestment News Summer 2020: New NMTC Award, Supporting HBCUs, and More
New NMTC Award
Reinvestment Fund received a $60 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation award as part of the 2019 round of the NMTC Program awards announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund. Reinvestment Fund is among 76 awardees who received a total of $3.5 billion in awards this round. The NMTC program is an invaluable resource for so many projects and demand for the resource far exceeds supply.
“We are grateful for this award at this time when so many of us are working to stem and reverse the growing disparities communities face, now amplified by the pandemic,’’ said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “In addition to supporting projects in the key sectors we work in, we will also use our new NMTC allocation to prioritize projects that advance racial equity; prioritize community inclusion as part of its design or goals; or reflect climate consciousness.”
Reinvestment Fund has received $534 million in NMTC allocations in previous rounds, which has helped support close to $1.1 billion in total investments in low-income communities. Our allocations support projects that provide essential services to their communities including health care, education, and access to healthy food, as well as projects that serve as anchors for community revitalization. We recently closed on one such project that will support the Sports and Learning Complex in Louisville, Kentucky. The project is converting a long vacant 24-acre brownfield into a world-class facility, to serve as a destination for local, regional and national-level track and field meets as well as a variety of other sports, entertainment and community uses. The facility will also house educational, home ownership and job training classes as well as provide a venue for job and health fairs, and a place for healthy community activity. The project is owned by the Louisville Urban League (LUL), the nonprofit organization that has been working locally for nearly 100 years on jobs, justice, education, health and housing. Even in the midst of COVID-19, LUL has been providing job training and placement services for the community. They have also ramped up services to provide access to computers, healthcare, COVID testing and a feeding program for seniors. Learn more about our NMTC program or connect with our NMTC team.
Supporting HBCUs
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play an indispensable role in providing higher educational opportunities to thousands of Black people, many of whom are first-generation college students. Founded in response to America’s extreme segregationist education practices, HBCUs have always been beacons of the arts, politics, innovation and civic engagement for Black communities. However, regardless of the bipartisan support for HBCUs, these institutions are woefully underfunded by government and philanthropy and face racial discrimination from traditional capital sources. In recent decades, this inequitable access to funding has led to the closure of dozens of HBCUs. As part of Reinvestment Fund’s own mission to build equitable communities, we are committed to serving the needs of HBCUs that support Black students and the communities surrounding the schools. We recently provided financing to Edward Waters College, Florida’s first HBCU and our third HBCU transaction. The loan refinances existing debts at more favorable rates, increasing the College’s liquidity and positioning it to embark on a larger capital improvement campaign to upgrade its campus learning and living facilities. The college campus is the historic anchor of the “New Town” neighborhood located in the heart of Jacksonville, Florida’s Black community, where the College invests in a range of both physical and social services for surrounding neighborhoods. Last year, Reinvestment Fund closed a similar transaction with Fisk University in Nashville. As we learn more about this sector, we also welcome opportunities for collaboration and partnership. To connect, please email info@reinvestment.com.
Sustaining Quality Childcare
Since April, the Philadelphia Emergency Fund for Stabilization of Early Education (PEFSEE) program has been awarding grants to childcare providers, early intervention and home visiting service organizations to ensure that the early learning sector can weather the COVID19 crisis. PEFSEE has thus far awarded over $5 million to 415 providers. Of the awardees, 87% are women-owned organizations and 74% are owned or led by people of color. The awards are expected to preserve 3,851 jobs in the sector and maintain spaces for 31,187 children in licensed early learning programs. Reinvestment Fund is also currently partnering with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families, Public Health Management Corporation, and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey to conduct a city-wide survey to understand childcare needs. Very little information currently exists on families’ needs and health and safety concerns; the information will help childcare providers and the City of Philadelphia make sure families can confidently access the childcare they need as people begin to go back to work and school. The survey is open through July 24 and is available in eight languages. Parents and guardians with children ages 0 to 5 in their household are encouraged to participate in the online survey.
News & Resources
News: Reinvestment Fund’s President and CEO, Don Hinkle-Brown writes in U.S. News & World Report on how by bolstering financial institutions that work with underserved communities, the U.S. can achieve equity amid the pandemic and its aftermath.
News: How the coronavirus exposed health disparities in communities of color– The Washington Post uses Policymap‘s health-risk index to explore vulnerability to severe COVID-19 illness.
News: Nearly $1 Million deployed to City of Atlanta childcare facilities through GEEARS PAACT FFQ program. PAACT FFQ is currently focused on stabilization efforts modeled after Reinvestment Fund’s Philadelphia Emergency Fund for Stabilization of Early Education (PEFSEE) program.
Resource: Philadelphia Landlord-Tenant Court processes approximately 20,000 eviction filings each year. New Reinvestment Fund research looks at the impact of the Judgment by Agreement (JBA) process to resolve eviction disputes.
Resource: The communities we serve feel the deep financial and social impacts of COVID-19. Here are some small businesses & nonprofits in our portfolio & ways you can help them.