This section features articles posted by our Members and other opportunity finance practitioners, as well as publications of interest to the opportunity finance industry. The contents and opinions of these articles are solely the responsibility of the article authors. We encourage submissions about industry news, milestones, and upcoming events. OFN reserves the right to decline a posting.
Earlier this month at the annual Council on Foundations Conference, Jeff Brown, Chairman and Founder of UpLift Solutions, announced plans to create a national CDFI focused on healthy food access in low-income, urban areas. This new CDFI will combine Jeff's grocery expertise with the financial expertise of Jeremy Nowak, founder of the The Reinvestment Fund. Through the combination of rich technical assistance and a social venture fund that includes equity as well as debt, UpLift plans to partner with existing CDFIs to increase the capacity for healthy food financing efforts nationwide. More than strictly a food access vehicle, Jeff explained that this CDFI would fund innovative supermarkets that could become holistic hubs offering a number of needed services to the communities they serve. Read More.
Chicago Community Loan Fund partners with Converge:Exchange to present a half-day workshop and evening panel discussion focused on Community Tools for Affordable Housing. The event will provide an in depth look into a variety of tools and strategies for increasing the availability of affordable housing in communities. More info here.
Washington, DC – The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) has selected 16 nonprofit rural organizations from 15 states to receive $257,000 in grants to develop or preserve 418 units of affordable housing for seniors in rural communities across the country. Made possible with generous support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, these grants will allow the 16 organizations to use funding for construction projects, build internal capacity, preserve affordable rental and homeownership properties, and strengthen advocacy efforts for affordable rural senior housing. More info here.
The Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Philadelphia invite paper submissions for their 11th annual Policy Summit, to be held September 19–20, 2013, in Cleveland, Ohio. The conference brings together researchers and practitioners interested in economic policy and development in low- and moderate-income communities. More info here.
Washington, DC – Today, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will hold a roundtable at 10:30 a.m. entitled "Helping Small Businesses Weather Economic Challenges and Natural Disasters: Review of Legislative Proposals on Access to Capital and Disaster Recovery." More info here.
Haverford College is hosting a conference on U.S. Poverty, Microentrepreneurs, and Microfinance on March 28-29 to bring together practitioners and researchers to discuss the industry post-financial crisis, the implications of innovations in technology and in product design influenced by behavioral economics and the future directions of the industry. The conference will be held on Haverford's campus in suburban Philadelphia. Learn more or register now.
There will be a Connecting Communities® audio conference on Wednesday, March 20, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. Eastern time. The presentation will focus on the primary findings of the 2011 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households (Household Survey) released in September 2012. The FDIC sponsors this survey every two years to collect data on the number of U.S. households that are unbanked and underbanked, their demographic characteristics, and their reasons for being unbanked or underbanked. The presenters are Yazmin Osaki and Susan Burhouse of the FDIC.
Click here to register for the call.
The Reinvestment Fund, The Food Trust, and PolicyLink recently launched the Healthy Food Access Portal, a dynamic online clearinghouse for information related to improving healthy food access in communities, building local economies, and enhancing public health. The portal connects community leaders, healthy food retailers, policymakers, and advocates to an array of resources, strategies, and ideas to improve and increase access to healthy food retail in underserved communities. Its content is organized around key topic areas and users are encouraged to submit stories, questions, and tips in the interactive discussion area. Funding for this project comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The National Development Council is pleased to recognize the country’s most dedicated and innovative community development professionals and their work through our peer-selected NDC Academy 2013 Awards. Submit your project for the chance to exhibit your work at the Academy and on Capitol Hill. The projects that receive the most votes will win an NDC Academy 2013 Award (plus free tuition to an NDC course of your choice)! Projects may be submitted in four categories:
All projects must be submitted no later than March 18, 2013, 5pm Eastern Time. Get all the details.
HOPE was part of the groundbreaking ceremony for Circle Food Store in New Orleans in January. The retailer is an icon in the Big Easy—it was the first African-American-owned grocer in the city. This New Orleans landmark flooded when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area. But after seven years of struggling to rebuild, owner Dwayne Boudreau was able to find the financing and support he needed from the Fresh Food Retailer Initiative.
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