News

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.

Reinvestment Fund announced Kareem Thomas as its new Managing Director of Credit. In this role, Kareem leads all credit review and approval functions for Reinvestment Fund’s lending and investing, and plays a critical part in helping advance the organization’s mission.

Regardless of race, class or income, communities everywhere want to make things better for generations to come. The use of safe, clean, locally-made energy from the sun is a way to ensure the well-being of future generations while also helping homeowners invest in their homes. PosiGen is a residential solar developer that works primarily with low- to moderate-income households and in communities of color. The firm pioneered a unique approach to assessing credit risk of customers focusing on utility bill payment history instead of credit scores, and also developed an “out of the box” system design that reduced installation costs compared to the “design to fit” systems more prevalent in the industry. Supported by these two innovations, the firm has installed over 17,000 systems to date, with over 70% of its customers being low- to moderate-income households.

Wells Fargo selects Community First Fund, The Enterprise Center, Entrepreneur Works, Reinvestment Fund and Women’s Opportunity Resource Center to receive grants from its Open for Business Fund

Wells Fargo has selected Community First Fund, The Enterprise Center, Entrepreneur Works, The Reinvestment Fund, and Women’s Opportunity Resource Center  to receive grants from its Open for Business Fund (OFB), a nationwide small business recovery effort. The $8.35 million in new funding to these organizations will help underserved small businesses stay open, preserve jobs through short- and long-term COVID-19 resiliency efforts, and support businesses impacted by the civil unrest that took place last summer. The grants were announced today at a small business roundtable in Philadelphia hosted by Wells Fargo and The Hill.