News

Assistance comes as 1 in 4 Early Learning Sites in Philadelphia Report Risk of Closure/Consolidation this Fall

Philadelphia, Nov 2, 2021 – To help Philadelphia-area early childhood centers continue operating this fall, Reinvestment Fund has awarded a third round of relief aid totaling $1.5 million under the Philadelphia Emergency Fund for Stabilization of Early Education (PEFSEE). Since launching in April 2020, PEFSEE has provided $8.3 million in emergency grants to 416 childcare providers in Philadelphia.

Initially funded through grants from the William Penn Foundation and Vanguard’s Strong Start for Kids Program™, PEFSEE has since received additional funding from PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, and individual contributors. The program supports Philadelphia childcare providers who are struggling to sustain their businesses and early learning support for families through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reinvestment Fund is inviting applications for grant awards and technical assistance through the 2021 round of the America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Targeted Small Grants Program. Funding for the HFFI Targeted Small Grants Program is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), authorized by the Farm Bill. Reinvestment Fund serves as the national fund manager for the HFFI program at USDA. The 2021 HFFI round is offering at least $4 million in grant funds for food retail and food enterprises working to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities.

“Investing in food retail access is about building essential infrastructure, economic strength and community resilience,” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “At a time when Americans are grappling with enormous challenges from continued COVID-19 infections to extreme weather, it is more important than ever that we support communities and entrepreneurs in building an equitable, resilient food system.”

Reinvestment Fund received a $60 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation award today as part of the 2020 round of awards announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund. Reinvestment Fund will use its award to support investments in its core markets, with an emphasis on projects that improve outcomes for communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout. Reinvestment Fund is among 100 awardees who received a total of $5 billion in awards this round.

“The pandemic has only underscored the vulnerability of Black and brown communities in the face persistent systemic challenges,” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “With this award, we will invest in projects that advance equity and strengthen the resources that people need in order to be healthy, obtain a quality education, earn a living wage and build wealth.”

Reinvestment Fund celebrates the graduation of the first cohort of 15 financial professionals from its Train the Trainer (TTT) program dedicated to the early childhood education (ECE) community. The eight-week program provides a comprehensive understanding of the nuances of the ECE sector and prepares financial professionals to serve as coaches to providers seeking to strengthen their business operations. TTT is an initiative of Reinvestment Fund, with funding from the William Penn Foundation, to support Philadelphia ECE providers by increasing their financial capabilities and positioning them for stability and growth.

$380,000 in grants available to advance community-driven solutions to historic food injustice

Philadelphia, August 3, 2021 — The Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Reinvestment Fund issued a call today for proposals investing $350,000 to develop innovative projects aimed at creating more healthy food options in Philadelphia. Non-profits, businesses, and collectives can apply for up to $100,000.

This project, the Philadelphia Food Justice Initiative (PFJI), was first launched in 2020 by the Reinvestment Fund and the Health Department’s Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, also known as Get Healthy Philly.

We urge you to add your organization to a sign on letter in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed Community Revitalization Fund (CRF).

A new collaborative aims to level the playing field in education, health and workforce readiness for young people in East Tampa, Florida. The Skills Center (TSC), a sports-based youth development organization, is building a strategic alliance with four other Black-led nonprofits to leverage resources, programming, funding and impact. With Reinvestment Fund financing, TSC is acquiring a five-acre campus that will house its headquarters and its partner organizations.

Our newest research brief looks at the process in Philadelphia and identifies ways in which the court experience can be improved and made more equitable for both tenants and landlords as the city emerges from the pandemic.

Reinvestment Fund applauds news this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it will invest more than $4 billion to strengthen critical supply chains in the food system. Part of the Biden Administration’s  Build Back Better initiative, the new effort will strengthen the food system, create new market opportunities, tackle the climate crisis, help communities that have been left behind, and support good-paying jobs throughout the supply chain.

“COVID-19 shined a light on the need for stronger local food supply infrastructure, as grocery stores and food producers became essential businesses and lifelines for families,” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “We commend the Administration and the USDA for this transformational investment that recognizes the food system as essential infrastructure for local and regional economies.”

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Reinvestment Fund announced today the release of a pathbreaking research brief that proposes the use of fair housing law to work toward the end of segregation. The report, “An ‘All-Out’ Effort to Achieve Desegregation and Equality of Opportunity: Assessment of Fair Housing 2.0.,” reminds that the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) provision of the Fair Housing Act is an obligation that attaches to all Executive Branch agencies, not just the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. It recommends that a revised Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH), a planning tool created by the Obama Administration that helps implement the AFFH, can be constructively used as a framework to significantly increase racial justice through a coordinated approach to racial and economic integration in American communities.