A Hartford nonprofit has gotten $2 million in federal money to bolster its efforts to rehabilitate blighted housing and spur economic development in city neighborhoods.
The Hartford Community Loan Fund (HCLF) said Monday it was among 14 loan funds nationwide to collect the maximum $2 million award from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.
“This award will accelerate our efforts to eliminate blight and provide more quality, affordable housing options in Hartford,” said Jack Ellovich, president HCLF’s board of directors. “The capital from the CDFI Fund will allow us to add a new lender to our staff and help us increase our investments in the newly designated north Hartford Promise Zone.”
The promise zone designation earlier this year from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is intended to stimulate economic and housing investments in Hartford’s north end neighborhoods, Ellovich said.
Two other Connecticut community-loan fund nonprofits also drew Treasury funding, HCLF officials said. Stamford’s Housing Development Fund got $1.65 million, and Women’s Business Development Council, also based in Stamford, got $125,000.
Founded in 1997 as the South Hartford Initiative and certified as a CDFI in 2002, HCLF claims to have provided more than $27 million in financing in Hartford’s neighborhoods, facilitating the rehab of more than 650 units of housing while creating nearly 700 Hartford jobs.
The Hartford fund also provides lends money to needy city homeowners to avoid tax-lien foreclosures, and to help other residents build their credit.
Created by Congress in 1994, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of community credit unions, banks, loan funds, and other financial institutions serving rural and urban communities nationwide that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. Through the first 20 rounds of this program, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $1.5 billion, authorities say.
For more information, contact HCLF Executive Director Rex Fowler, at 860-296-7005, or R.Fowler@HartfordLoans.org
