News

Reinvestment Fund, an S&P rated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), today announced the close of $75.7 million in general obligation bonds. Reinvestment Fund was one of the first CDFIs to access the capital markets in 2017 and this marks their second issuance.

The issuance signals a growing market among institutional investors for the unique impact investing opportunities CDFIs provide low-income communities across the country. There are currently six S&P rated CDFIs in the country, three of which have raised over $300 million in bond issuances over the last year.

Reinvestment Fund announced Cheila Fernandez as its new Chief Compliance & Risk Officer. This new position will lead the growing organization’s internal risk management and compliance.

Reinvestment Fund is pleased to welcome Dudley Benoit to its Board of Directors. Mr. Benoit, a long-time leader in the community development finance field, serves as Executive Vice President of Alliant Capital, Ltd., a top tax credit syndicator for the financing and development of affordable housing. Mr. Benoit has over 20 years of experience in the community development and real estate finance fields.

Despite gains over the past decade, limited access to healthy food continues to affect residents of both urban and rural communities across the United States—which is why Reinvestment Fund recently updated its Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) analysis. According to the 2018 update, 17.6 million people (5.6% of the population) live in LSA areas, a decrease of 3.1 million people (or 15%) from 2010.

The LSA analysis measures access to healthy food by determining which areas are well-served by supermarkets and which have relatively limited access. But Reinvestment Fund’s LSA analysis is unique in going beyond simply identifying areas with limited access; it also measures the extent to which LSA areas can support new or expanded food retail.

“For more than a decade, we have worked to ensure that all Americans have equitable and adequate access to healthy food,” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “The LSA has been at the core of our evidence-based approach to solutions that bring improved access to healthy food as well as economic opportunity to communities across the country.”

Remembering and Honoring Jeremy Nowak and other news

Jeremy Nowak was a visionary leader, who worked tirelessly for equity in low-income communities. As we grieve the loss of our founder, we share with you a glimpse into his brilliance and what made him one-of-a-kind.

We at Reinvestment Fund are grieving the loss of our founder, Jeremy Nowak. Jeremy was a powerful, insightful and tireless voice for our nation’s underserved people and places. The world is diminished by his passing.

Jeremy established Reinvestment Fund to make investments in underserved communities to increase equity of access to resources and strengthen neighborhoods—that was 33 years and $2 billion ago. He organized people, then he organized money, community capacity rallied, and all along the way he organized how we think about problems and their solutions. In his tool box, he carried relentless rigor and clarity of purpose. Among our value statements at Reinvestment Fund is a commitment to “transcend the transactional”—a pure distillation of the legacy of Jeremy’s vision and leadership.

Reinvestment Fund and The Philadelphia Foundation announced the launch of PhilaImpactFund, a new place-based impact investment opportunity targeted to the Greater Philadelphia region. The Fund is believed to be a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a community foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation, and an asset manager that also originates community development loans, Reinvestment Fund. Each organization has committed $5 million toward PhilaImpact Fund’s $30 million goal.

PhilaImpact Fund offers an opportunity for investors to channel their capital into neighborhood development projects that support regional growth and local initiatives in the communities that need them the most. The Fund will support projects serving critical needs for people across the region promoting housing stability for low-income families, better health outcomes, higher educational attainment, greater access to fresh, healthy food, and more.

Reinvestment Fund’s Senior Policy Advisor, Patricia Smith, has been named President and CEO of The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, a robust network of more than 170 philanthropic foundations across the U.S. and Canada.

Introducing the PhilaImpact Fund and other news

Reinvestment Fund and The Philadelphia Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of the PhilaImpact Fund, a new fixed-income product for impact investors who want to enhance the growth of the greater Philadelphia region.

Reinvestment Fund announced the launch of a new Clean Energy Fund, which will provide financing for small and mid-sized projects implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy and other clean energy technologies that otherwise have limited access to traditional capital markets. First capital for the Fund comes from a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc., one of the world’s leading financial services companies, which is providing $10 million in debt and Reinvestment Fund, which is investing $2.5 million.

The Fund has already committed its first loan to Affordable Community Energy Services Company (ACE) to perform comprehensive energy efficiency and water conservation projects for Mercy Housing in California, the nation’s largest nonprofit owner of low-income housing. The $6 million project will benefit 6,000 affordable housing units in 90 multifamily residential buildings in California.