Overview
The Community Reinvestment Fund is a US non-profit organization whose mission is to improve lives and strengthen communities through innovative financial solutions. A leading community development financial institution (CDFI), CRF develops products and services aimed at increasing the flow of capital to historically underinvested communities across the country.
Smaller, community-level organizations – many of which operate in low-income communities and are led by people of colour – were already suffering from decades of discrimination prior to COVID-19, resulting in lack of access to affordable capital and an insufficient safety net. Without the right resources for these community organisations, the racial wealth gap can increase and outcomes for low-income and low-wealth communities worsen.
The COVID-19 recovery funding in the Southern US has only reached 2% of minority-owned businesses and 16% of women-owned businesses. To make the recovery more equitable, our grant to CRF will support CRF’s Southern Opportunity and Resilience Fund (SOAR). The SOAR Fund blends first-loss capital from foundations and impact investors with capital from banks and corporations to fund local non-profit CDFIs to support small, minority-owned businesses in the Southern US with technology, collaboration and credit.
Take a look at their website to learn more about CRF’s work: https://crfusa.com