NFF Dollars at Work

We bring capital where it’s needed most for social good. Here's a look at loan closings from the past few years in the following sectors:

Latest Loan Closing

Brooklyn Community Bail Fund: Working to end unjust cash bail and pretrial detention 

$250,000 working capital loan through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund 

Brooklyn Community Bail Fund (BCBF) is dedicated to challenging the racism and injustices of a criminal legal system and immigration deportation regime that disproportionately target low-income communities of color, drive mass incarceration and perpetuate inequality. Cash bail and pretrial detention criminalize poverty; while wealthy people who can afford bail can return home before their trials, those who can't afford to pay must face pre-trial detention or plead guilty to avoid it. Since 2015, BCBF’s Bail Operations program has paid bail – usually about $2,000 per person, but sometimes $10,000 or more – to secure the pretrial freedom of over 5,000 presumptively innocent individuals charged with misdemeanors, sparing them a collective 700 years of time in detention.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought both new urgency and new challenges to its efforts to raise the funds required to free community members from the dangerous and unsafe conditions of ICE detention facilities. Thousands of New Yorkers are detained each year; at the same time, the average cost of paying their bail has risen by nearly 50%, from $7,500 to $11,800. Financed by the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund, this loan will allow BCBF to expand its pipeline of institutional and major donor support to meet this growing need, ensuring that thousands of community members can plead their cases from positions of freedom. 

Learn more about NFF's loan products on the financing page of our website.  

Charter Schools & Education

KIPP New York (KIPP NY) is a network of 16 charter schools serving 6,400 K-12 students in the boroughs of Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. KIPP NY is a member of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), a non-profit network of public charter schools that have supported early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school students since 1994. This loan will help finance the acquisition of the site for KIPP NY's newest high school campus in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. When the school opens in 2024, it will begin offering a high-quality education to approximately 300 students; by the time it reaches full capacity in 2028, it will serve over 1,000.   Partners: BlueHub Capital, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) 
Acceleration Day and Evening Academy (ACCEL), Alabama’s first tuition-free public charter school, serves high school students in grades 9-12 from Mobile, Baldwin, and Washington Counties. ACCEL provides flexible, accelerated academics and critical wraparound supports to Mobile area students who are at risk of dropping out or have already dropped out of high school. Due to high demand for its programs, ACCEL requested and was granted a modification to its original charter that allowed it to add grades 6-8. This loan will allow ACCEL to expand into a nearby facility – and serve an additional 200 students who might not otherwise have access to a high-quality education. Partners: BlueHub Capital, HOPE Credit Union
SEED is the nation's first and only network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools designed for students who need – and deserve – a 24-hour learning environment to achieve their full potential. NFF’s loans in this New Markets Tax Credit project will support the construction of a brand-new SEED campus in South Los Angeles on a property that has remained vacant since the 1992 Rodney King civil unrest. This campus will form part of a larger community development that includes affordable housing and a major public transit hub. SEED LA will serve 400 high school students, focusing on youth who are homeless or housing insecure, have an immediate family member who is incarcerated, or have interacted with Los Angeles County Children and Family Services. In addition to a high-quality education, SEED LA will provide wrap around services for youth who face barriers inside and outside the school, with the goal of creating a safe environment where those students can achieve academic success and thrive beyond the classroom.  Partners: Chase Bank, Capital Impact Partners (CIP), Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Weingart Foundation
Citizens of the World is an intimate network of high-achieving, community-based public schools. Their mission is to provide a high-quality education to a diverse community of students that reflect the abundant socioeconomic, racial and cultural diversity of their surroundings, developing their abilities, confidence, and sense of responsibility for themselves and their community. This loan will support the construction of a new, permanent location for grades 3-5 on the school’s Mar Vista campus. It will allow the school to bring the 5th grade back to the elementary campus and provide a students with a modern and updated site, adding art, enrichment, play, lunch and library to the space, and creating a more secure campus. In addition to bringing these activities into the same facility as the classrooms, this expansion will grow the school’s total capacity – meaning that Citizens of the World will be able to offer an exemplary education to more students.   Partners: Civic Builders 
LIFE Academy, a startup charter school in Montgomery, Alabama, provides students in grades K-8 with a holistic education rooted in trauma-informed learning, student connectedness, culturally relevant curricula, and authentic community partnership. This low-interest loan from NFF’s Resilient Communities Fund – NFF’s first ever loan in Alabama – will allow LIFE Academy to purchase and renovate the former St. Jude Educational Institute and Catholic Hospital, a key stop on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s two children. A campus with such a prominent role in the civil rights movement will be a powerfully symbolic location for a school serving a city whose public school students are 75% Black. Owning – rather than renting – this historically significant building will help the school save money in the long term and serve  its community for years to come.  Partners: BlueHub Capital, Hope Credit Union 
Compass Rose Education (CRE) is a network of tuition-free, public charter schools that combine academic success with personal growth so that K-12 students across Texas can navigate life’s big opportunities. Its rigorous, college-preparation-focused curriculum has enabled its student population, nearly 90% of which are from low-income households and 90% of which are students of color, to academically outperform those from the school district in almost all state tests. NFF and BlueHub Capital are each providing CRE with $3.6 million in refinancing a loan which supported the renovation of a building that holds CRE’s first San Antonio campus and 850 students. Together with a previous $1.1 million loan to CRE and a $1.4 million loan to CRE’s developer and landlord Building Hope, NFF has invested about $6 million into CRE’s efforts to bring high-quality education to students across Texas.  Partners: BlueHub Capital
Building Hope builds the capacity of charter schools nationwide by providing unparalleled facilities, financial, and operational services so that schools can focus on and devote more resources to educating students in underserved communities. NFF and BlueHub Capital are each providing Building Hope with a $1.4 million facility loan to finance the construction of a new charter school: Compass Rose Journey. The Compass Rose charter school network has a proven track record for providing its students – 90% of whom come from low-income households and 90% who identify as BIPOC – with a high-quality education. The Journey campus will be the third Compass Rose charter school in the San Antonio area and will enroll up to 740 students. Partners: BlueHub Capital

Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY) helps students realize their goals with a unique purpose-centered educational model that integrates students’ classwork with their experiences in workplace or internship sites. NFF partnered with LISC NYC to provide a $5.58-million loan which will allow MCNY to refinance the mortgage on their Bronx campus, freeing up resources to support their mission of delivering an education that fosters personal and professional development, promotes social justice, and encourages positive change in workplaces and communities.

Partner: LISC

Leadership Preparatory Charter School opened in 2015 with kindergarten and first grade classes. It has added a grade every year since, currently at K-5. In order to realize its goal of K-8 education, the school needed more space. With the help of a construction loan from NFF and partners, the school will build its middle school adjacent to the elementary school, expanding by 2024 to 490 students from 315 currently. This loan is the first from NFF’s Resilient Communities Fund, a $10 million fund from our most recent NMTC awards. With loans under $4 million with low interest rates, the fund is available to borrowers with financing needs too small to benefit from traditional NMTC allocations.

Partners: BlueHub Capital, Pinnacle Bank

Nowell Leadership Academy is a transfer charter high school in Providence, RI, serving pregnant and parenting students. The school is located on two campuses seven miles apart, which creates financial and operational challenges, as well as inconsistent support services for students, such as childcare. With a new campus for all 160 students, the school will save money, offer a better social and communal experience, and provide lactation and health rooms, transportation services, and a dedicated space for free on-site childcare. NFF provided a $610,000 loan for leasehold improvements on the new space.

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Community Improvement

The Good Rural was founded to promote emotional, academic and economic success for urban and rural communities across the United States. The extremely high cost of living in San Francisco means that many families in the city can't consistently afford or access healthy food. Therefore, in its first year of organization, The Good Rural is focusing on addressing food insecurity: providing access to food to food-insecure children and families; launching educational programs to promote food security through existing resources; and fostering resources that address the root causes of food insecurity.   This brand-new organization has already secured startup funding from the City of San Francisco; however, this funding is reimbursement-based, meaning that it needs a loan in order to have cash on hand as it begins operations. This loan from NFF will allow The Good Rural to pay rent, hire several full-time employees, and establish its programs while it awaits reimbursement from the city. It will also allow the nonprofit's founder breathing room to apply for the grants it needs to have cash on hand for years to come.  
BuCu West’s mission is to create destinations that promote and support entrepreneurs, small businesses, cultural organizations, and residents in an authentic, energetic, and colorful environment. For more than two decades, BuCu West has helped transform southwest Denver’s Morrison Road Corridor into a neighborhood that supports and attracts business development through investment in local business leaders, artists, youth, leaders, infrastructure, and heritage. In 2016, BuCu West purchased its first space to house the Kitchen Network: one of Colorado’s largest specialty food incubators which served primarily businesses owned by women and people of color. Offered through NFF’s Metro Denver Nonprofit Loan Fund, this loan will help BuCu West finance a significant expansion of the Kitchen Network into the kitchen space at the former Johson & Wales campus in Denver, allowing it to grow from serving 150 to 300 food businesses each year.
Golden State Opportunity (GSO) is a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty by providing all Californians with the tools to build financial well-being and thrive. The organization leads comprehensive statewide campaigns to help families access public benefits, receive tailored financial coaching, achieve financial stability, and plan for the future through programs that uplift low-income Californians. They promote financial well-being through partnerships with more than 40 community-based organizations and offer materials in 13 different languages. GSO will use this bridge loan to meet the terms of a new contract through California’s Golden State Stimulus (GSS) program, which was launched during COVID-19 to assist California households that have endured a disproportionate economic burden due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this financing, GSO will be able to keep providing much-needed financial education and services to California families. Partners: California Community Foundation
Community Resource Center builds the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities through comprehensive leadership development, education, and resource programs. They offer a variety of programs to Colorado nonprofits, including: Rural Philanthropy Days, a conference for nonprofits serving rural populations; the Colorado Participation Project, a partnership with human services organizations to encourage members of marginalized communities to register to vote; the Colorado Grants Guide, the first database of funding sources for Colorado nonprofits; and the Colorado Nonprofit Leadership and Management Program, which has trained more than 700 emerging nonprofit leaders over the past 25 years. Community Resource Center recently launched a program that leverages 75 Americorps volunteers to launch COVID-19 containment efforts across the state. This $250,000 bridge loan from NFF will allow Community Resource Center to continue offering this critical program until it is reimbursed by the state of Colorado later this year. 

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Health

Kids First Health Care (KFHC) partners with schools and other community organizations to bring primary and preventive health services to youth ages 0-21. Most of the youth KFCH serves are enrolled in Medicaid or Child Health Plan Plus and nearly 20 percent are uninsured. After COVID-19 mandated school closures across the country, KFHC shut down its school-based sites. For the past year and a half, they have been seeing patients solely out of their headquarters – a small facility with just two exam rooms. As schools reopen and KFHC once again begins seeing patients while they're in school, they will use this loan from our Metro Denver Loan Fund to expand into a new location with six exam rooms – vastly expanding the amount of youth they'll be able to serve. In partnership with a dental clinic at the same site, they hope to evolve this building into a hub for all of their community's healthcare needs.
St. John's Episcopal Hospital offers emergency and ambulatory care to the densely populated, culturally and economically diverse, and medically underserved population of Far Rockaway, Queens and surrounding areas in New York. NFF and Capital Impact Partners each provided $5 million source loans for a $30 million project to construct a community clinic across the street from the hospital that will allow St. John's to expand the provision of primary care, mental health, and specialty care services on the Rockaway peninsula. This project will also free up much needed space at the hospital for critical inpatient services so that St. John's can continue to provide people of all faiths with comprehensive services - from preventive to rehabilitative - regardless of ability to pay.  Partners: Capital Impact Partners, CityScape Capital Group, New York City Regional Center, and Chase

Bartz-Altadonna Community Health Center provides patient-centered, high-quality, trauma-informed healthcare services to people in Antelope Valley, regardless of ability to pay and with intensive outreach to people experiencing homelessness. A $2.5-million facility loan from NFF will help Bartz-Altadonna Community Health Center purchase a new building for their expanded behavioral health services and administration offices. With more space available, the Center can offer even more support to people who are seeking mental health services – a critical offering particularly during the pandemic.

Odessa Brown Children's Clinic (OBCC), operated by Seattle Children's Hospital, is building out a newly constructed pediatric health clinic for families in Southeast Seattle to provide medical and dental care, as well as physical therapy, mental health, and nutrition counseling. The clinic also integrates other services, such as literacy training, legal advocacy, and parent support groups so that families can access everything they need to thrive in one place. NFF's $10 million in NMTC sub-allocation will support the new $53.4 million clinic. OBCC is co-located in a building with an early childhood care center and five floors of mixed-income housing (financed separately). The project is part of the Othello Square neighborhood redevelopment, which includes a charter school, workforce development, and affordable housing. OBCC will continue to be a trusted medical provider for local residents while offering even more to families in the community.

Partners: Urban Research Park CDE, LLC, Craft3, and Chase

Hill Country Community Clinic offers integrated medical, dental, chiropractic, and mental health services to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. With $11 million in NMTC sub-allocation and $10 million in loans, including investment from NFF’s AIM Healthy Fund and participation from Dignity Health, Hill Country Community Clinic is another step closer to the construction of a new 35,000 square foot health center that will serve over 9,000 patients annually once fully operational. The project, Center of Hope, will also include 16 units of supportive housing for young adults transitioning out of homelessness.

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Homelessness & Housing

HousingPlus provides community-based housing and comprehensive services to support women working to overcome poverty, addiction, and trauma and help them achieve their aspirations. Using a trauma-informed and strength-based approach, HousingPlus offers safe housing where women can access mental health therapy, substance abuse counseling, education referrals, employment support, and other supportive services. They then work with each woman to develop personalized goals toward achieving housing stability, economic self-sufficiency, and independent living. Currently, the organization houses approximately 176 families and single women across New York City. Offered through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund, this no-interest loan will bridge an 18-month delay in government contracts and help HousingPlus with seasonal cash flow needs. The COVID-19 pandemic led HousingPlus to implement enhanced safety protocols and expanded technology access for staff, increasing the organization's 2021 expenses; at the same time, they had to cancel fundraising events, shrinking their revenue. This loan will ensure that HousingPlus can overcome these challenges and continue to provide essential supportive housing – at a time when housing insecurity is on the rise and its services are desperately needed.

Partner: LISC

Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services (RNHS) provides affordable rental housing and services to support first-time homebuyers, focusing on low-income Black women in and around Richmond and Oakland, CA. Founded by a dedicated group of residents who believe that affordable housing shouldn’t stop at renting, RNHS has worked to reverse systemic segregation, redlining, disinvestment, and blight. In partnership with local residents, businesses, financial institutions, and government agencies, RNHS offers low-income households and people of color the tools they need to achieve financial equity.   RNHS has received a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in support of its efforts to develop and rehabilitate affordable homes across the East Bay. However, without access to debt, the organization would need to divert money from their development pipeline to maintaining their existing properties, slowing the rate at which they could build or rehab new ones. Financed through NFF’s CARE Fund, which offers 0% interest loans to community-centered nonprofits led by people of color, this loan will ensure that RNHS has sufficient cash flow to both continue its existing services and develop new affordable homes for Bay Area families.  
Archway Communities elevates lives by providing access to affordable housing, food security and the supportive social services people need to thrive. Every person who lives in an Archway property has access to youth recreation, ESL classes, technology services, adult education, and other programs designed to create a holistic and engaging atmosphere for residents.  Archway will use this working capital loan to expand the amount of liquid capital it has access to at any given time, ensuring that it has sufficient cash to grow its portfolio of properties and services. With this financing, Archway hopes to develop new properties for low- and middle-income Colorado families, offer a wider array of supportive services, and hire the staff it needs to support a steady, long-term expansion.  
Founded in 1974 in Manhattan’s Chinatown to advocate for equal rights, Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) has become one of New York’s leading housing, social service and community development organizations. Since its founding, AAFE has created more than 1,000 affordable rental units in Manhattan and Queens and provided over $400 million in mortgage financing for homebuyers. AAFE also offers small business loans and training programs to immigrant entrepreneurs and helps members of immigrant communities with a wide range of housing, immigration, and other quality of life issues.  This loan will fund the substantial rehabilitation of three multifamily properties (44 units total) in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. Once the renovations are complete, the properties will be converted into affordable, cooperatively owned housing for low and moderate-income households through NYC’s Affordable Neighborhood Co-op Program. AAFE’s project will support 125 tenants as they work toward their homeownership goals.  Partners: Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) 
Comunilife, a Latina-led nonprofit housing developer, was founded in 1989 to provide culturally competent health services and affordable and supportive housing. The largely Black and Latinx communities that this nonprofit serves are vibrant and diverse; however, decades of disinvestment have led many in these communities to struggle with poverty, homelessness, and mental illness that have long gone unaddressed. In response, Comunilife offers services such as: affordable and permanent supportive housing for chronically unhoused individuals with untreated mental illness; an 80-bed medical respite program for individuals discharging from the hospital who are homeless or unstably housed; Life is Precious, a suicide prevention program for Latinas aged 12-17; and various emergency support services such as meals and food vouchers in response to COVID-19. In partnership with Corporation for Supportive Housing, NFF is providing Comunilife with an unsecured predevelopment loan to build an eight-story building on a previously underutilized parking lot in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. This building will create 93 units of supportive and affordable housing for previously unhoused people, low-income families and individuals, and older adults.   Partners: Corporation for Supportive Housing
Housing Works’ mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and income-generating businesses. Grounded in the belief that housing is healthcare, Housing Works develops affordable and permanent supportive housing primarily targeted at individuals who are currently unhoused and live with HIV/AIDS or a mental health condition, struggle with substance abuse, or who have been recently released from incarceration. With access to housing and other supportive services, these individuals can in time transition into stable, permanent housing and employment.   This loan will help Housing Works develop a 36-unit permanent affordable and supportive housing facility in the East New York section of Brooklyn that will target chronically homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS, serious mental illness and/or substance use disorder. Housing Works will provide supportive services for tenants in 21 units; the remaining 15 units will be reserved for low-income households earning up to 60 percent of annual median income. In addition to high-quality housing, residents of this facility will have access to six full-time Housing Works staff and mental and physical health services in the Housing Works health center across the street, ensuring that they have steady access to the care they need to thrive in their new homes.  
Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) is one of New York City's largest, most experienced, and most successful providers of housing and services for individuals experiencing homelessness. Since they were founded as a grassroots organization in 1971, they have grown into a nonprofit that supported 8,500 people in 2020 with programs ranging from workforce development to substance abuse treatment to transitional and permanent supportive housing. BRC receives a large portion of its funding from the city, which reimburses the organization for services it provides to New York City residents. Offered through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund, this bridge loan will allow the organization to continue offering critical supports to thousands of people who are still dealing with the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC) is addressing Los Angeles’ housing crisis by developing permanent supportive housing for low-income families, formerly homeless individuals and households, seniors, and those with special needs. Operating about 1,000 housing units, mostly in the Hollywood area, HCHC provides a broad range of support services centered on the principles of trauma-informed care for its residents, as well as ESL and GED classes, life skill classes, free after-school programs, and a food pantry. NFF’s $1.5-million loan will provide flexible financing in support of HCHC’s pipeline of permanent supportive housing projects that will allow it to develop at least 500 units every five years. This loan was made through NFF’s Accelerating Permanent Supportive Housing Fund, which provides early-stage capital to help speed the development of supportive housing in the Los Angeles area.

Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) takes a youth-centered, neighborhood-based approach to supporting their community's vision for the future. CRCD's programs focus on youth development, workforce development, supportive services, housing, and real estate to foster the revitalization of the South LA community. Through the Accelerating Permanent Supportive Housing Fund, NFF's $750,000 loan will provide flexible financing in support of CRCD’s sizeable pipeline of permanent supportive housing projects, with more than 14 projects in predevelopment.

The $2.1 million loan from NFF supports a partnership among the Illumination Foundation, LA County, and LifeArk Community to create an 18-bed permanent supportive housing facility in El Monte, CA through the AIM Healthy fund. The facility will bridge the continuum of care for people by providing housing and supportive services to homeless and medically vulnerable individuals who are leaving a recuperative care setting. The project also pilots a modular technology that is expected to reduce costs and construction time. The project broke ground in summer 2020.

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Human Services

Not On My Watch (NOMW) provides people who have endured or are at risk of human trafficking with the resources, awareness, and training that they need. Leveraging a trauma-informed and systems-oriented approach, NOMW has partnered with 300 houses of worship to combat trafficking and domestic violence in their communities. The organization has also hosted national conferences to provide education around human trafficking and domestic violence and worked tirelessly with national and local organizations on legislation to protect victims and prevent future trafficking.  While the City of New York has awarded NOMW a grant in support of its essential work, the nonprofit needs bridge financing to maintain its programs while it waits for that funding to arrive. Financed through NFF’s CARE Fund, which offers 0% interest loans to community-centered nonprofits led by people of color, this loan will help NOMW continue to provide preventative programs and advocate for survivors.  
Violence Intervention Program (VIP) is a community based nonprofit organization established in East Harlem in 1984. VIP’s mission is to lead Latina victims of domestic violence to safety, empower them to live free of violence, and to help them reach and sustain their full potential. The majority of VIP’s clients are immigrants to the United States who find themselves navigating unfamiliar systems during crisis. VIP collaborates with other social and legal service organizations to develop a safety net of support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.  Currently, VIP receives the majority of its funding from contracts with city, state, and federal government agencies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated delays in reimbursement from the government. This loan will allow VIP to keep cash on hand and continue offering essential services until they are reimbursed. It will also allow them to maintain their cash flow as they expand and diversify their fundraising program over the next several years.   Partners: Trinity Church Wall Street 
The Ladies of Hope Ministries (LOHM) is working to end the crisis of poverty and incarceration of women and girls. They offer safe housing, reentry support, and advocacy programs that are grounded in the lived experiences, insights, and ideas of people with direct experience with the criminal justice system. The LOHM was founded and is led, operated by, and serving primarily women of color who understand the value and importance of new responses to trauma and violence.  The food, housing, and connections that The LOHM provides are critical to the women it serves. But like many nonprofits, the organization was deeply affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19. A significant portion of the nonprofit’s revenue comes from high-profile fundraisers – events that it had to cancel last year. Funded through our partnership with Trinity Church Wall Street, this loan will ensure that The LOHM has enough cash on hand to maintain its operations at its current scale while it recoups the losses it sustained in 2020.   Partners: Trinity Church Wall Street  
Based in New York City, Women’s Prison Association (WPA) runs programs that empower women to redefine their lives in the face of injustice and incarceration. WPA recognizes that people interact with the criminal justice system in different ways; in response, its staff have designed programs that address histories of trauma, mental health needs, parental stress, and other factors that can lead to a woman's involvement with the system. WPA offers a continuum of care that includes housing, workforce development, an alternative to incarceration, legal support, health services, and more.  Funded in large part by government contracts, WPA has historically faced seasonal cash flow challenges as it waited to be reimbursed. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated delays in payment, causing stress for employees and hindering WPA's ability to achieve its mission. This loan will ensure that WPA has steady access to cash as it awaits reimbursement, ensuring that it can continue offering services that support women's freedom, safety, and independence.  Partners: Trinity Church Wall Street 

Westside Infant-Family Network (WIN) provides free in-home culturally sensitive mental health therapy and comprehensive support to families with young children so that families can focus on connecting with each other, healing, and building resilience. The $500,000 line of credit from NFF's AIM Healthy fund will provide working capital to bridge timing delays for two recently awarded contracts from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. The line of credit and new contracts will support a significant expansion of WIN’s work addressing trauma and mental health needs for families in Los Angeles, and will also deepen an eight-agency, cross-sector collaboration that will build the community's capacity to identify trauma and reduce the likelihood of family members developing mental illness.

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Social Justice

The Bronx Defenders aims to transform how low-income people in the Bronx are represented in the justice system and related policy advocacy. Each year, the organization defends approximately 20,000 Bronx residents who might otherwise not have been able to access legal representation in criminal, civil, child welfare, and immigration cases. Through its community intake and outreach programs, it reaches thousands more. In addition to providing public defense services, its social workers and non-legal advocates learn about the challenges that clients face and help them tackle the root issues that stand in the way of the futures they seek. This bridge loan will allow The Bronx Defenders to continue their operations while they await payment from a delayed government contract, ensuring that they can continue to bring legal services to the Bronx residents that need them most.
The Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions (CNUS), DBA Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice and Healing (CNHJH), is a BIPOC-led nonprofit in New York City that aims to redirect human and financial resources from the punishment-oriented criminal justice system to more effective, humane, equitable and sustainable solutions – solutions they call "Human Justice." They offer a variety of programs for currently and formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones, including a youth leadership development program, a cooperative workforce development program, an arrest diversion program, and a Human Justice Training and Resource Lab for community leaders, educators, service providers and policymakers. CNUS secured funding from the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and Young Men's Initiative, but the contracts have been delayed. This bridge loan will support the organization in its operations until that funding arrives.

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Workforce Development

The mission of Latino Leadership Institute (LLI) is to honor the heritage of leadership, advance Latino professionals to positions of influence, and prepare organizations to innovate for the workplace of tomorrow. LLI provides relevant, innovative, and results-driven Leadership and Inclusion Training to develop more effective leaders, cultivate inclusive teams, and improve innovation. LLI also offers DEI training to companies, organizes six-month fellowships for cohorts of Latino leaders, and convenes Latino professionals at community events.  Established in 2014 under the University of Denver, LLI recently spun off into a fully independent nonprofit. This loan will ensure that LLI has a runway of funding in its first few months as a new organization to build out the infrastructure it needs to scale its programs to more individuals and businesses.   Partners: The Denver Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and Community First Foundation
WorkLife Partnership is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating socially sustainable communities and thriving workplaces in Colorado. Through partnership with employers, the organization provides direct services and training to employees to help them overcome barriers – programs like access to affordable childcare, budgeting and financial planning, rental and utility assistance, and mental health support. By directly responding to the individual challenges their clients face, WorkLife can help them build strong, sustainable careers. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, WorkLife launched its Small Dollar Loans Program in March 2020 to provide employees of corporate clients with safe and affordable loans for emergency expenses. This loan will allow WorkLife to expand this program, ensuring that even more of the people they support can access cash when they need it at rates they can afford.

First Step Staffing is a nonprofit staffing agency. It converts existing for-profit staffing agencies into nonprofits with a mission-driven employment strategy – directly hiring those that have been most disenfranchised from the workforce – men and women experiencing homelessness, veterans, and people with disabilities. In 2018, it placed over 5,504 people with barriers into temporary jobs, 4,708 of whom had recently experienced homelessness. Founded in Atlanta 2006, it has expanded to Nashville, and in 2017, to Philadelphia, with the help of a $1.2 -million loan from NFF to purchase the accounts of a for-profit staffing company. First Step is taking now taking its approach now to Los Angeles. NFF made a $2.375-million term loan to finance First Step’s acquisition of a staffing company in LA that will now provide direct employment for thousands of people who face barriers to entering the workforce.

Partners: Reinvestment Fund, Dignity Health, REDF, LA County Workforce Development Aging & Community Services, and San Bernardino County

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Youth Development

Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI) works to prevent and eliminate interpersonal violence from the lives of young people through advocacy, peer leadership, community mobilization, and social justice. Recognizing that violence is an endemic public health issue among Central Brooklyn Youth, KAVI operates a range of violence intervention programs in school and hospital settings, including trauma recovery for families who have suffered through violence and trainings for young people on restorative justice and trauma-informed care.   In response to rising violence in the communities where it works, KAVI would like to bring on additional staff and peer facilitators to grow its programs. However, delays in payment from several of the organization's main funders are impeding KAVI's ability to plan this expansion. Offered through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund, this no-interest loan will allow KAVI to bring on the staff it needs to at least double its operational budget, vastly expanding the number of young people it can reach through its violence prevention programming.  
Soul Shoppe helps kids have healthy relationships at school and at home by teaching them tools to self-regulate, support friends, and resolve conflict. In the organization's workshops and assemblies, Soul Shoppe facilitators create safe environments for students to talk about real problems they are facing. The organization uses a research-based, experiential learning model rooted in early childhood development practices that create a sustained climate of safety. After adopting a hybrid in-person/virtual model due to COVID-19, Soul Shoppe created a train-the-trainers program for school staff so that they can continue conflict resolution practices when Soul Shoppe staff cannot be physically present in schools. Financed through NFF’s CARE Fund, which offers 0% interest loans to community-centered nonprofits led by people of color, this loan will ensure that Soul Shoppe can launch its new train-the-trainers program and continue other work while it awaits repayment from school districts.
New Earth Organization (NEO) provides mentor-based arts, educational, and vocational programs that empower juvenile justice and system-involved youth to make positive, healthy life choices and realize their aspirations. The organization’s founder was himself formerly incarcerated; as such, NEO approaches its work with young people from a place of deep understanding and empathy. At the organization's center in Culver City, young people participate in career training and paid work experience, a fully accredited high school diploma program, mentorship, case management, nature expeditions, arts programming, and wrap-around services that help them re-enter their communities with the support they need to achieve lifelong success.  While it waits for approved funding from the state of California, NEO requested a $500,000 bridge loan from NFF to ensure it has cash on hand to provide these essential services to California youth. They also plan to use the funding to invest in a dedicated development team and social enterprise programs. These investments will both ensure sustainable revenue sources for the organization and create opportunities for the young people it serves.  
Positive Alternative Recreation Teambuilding Impact (PARTI) Program was founded to address violence in schools by engaging youth as leaders in their school communities. Prioritizing Black, Latinx, and Pacific Islander youth, PARTI Program offers young people leadership, financial literacy, and volunteer opportunities that help them promote safe school climates that value diversity, equity, and inclusion. After going through the PARTI Program, student participants report that they feel connected to caring adults, that their voices are being heard, that they are prepared to deal with conflict, and that they can access opportunities that will help them thrive after high school.  PARTI Program will use this loan to hire two program managers to support the executive director, currently the organization’s only full-time employee. This will free up the director to focus additional time and resources on raising the funds the organization needs to maintain and ultimately expand its programs. When it does, more young people will be able to access leadership and educational programs that help them promote safe, healthy environments in their schools and their communities. 
Youth Justice Network’s mission is to break cycles of incarceration and build an equitable justice system by providing young people with individualized advocacy, mentorship, and opportunities to grow, thrive, and lead. Founded in 1990 out of the alternative high school on Rikers Island, the organization worked to support young people in their transition from juvenile detention to their neighborhood. Since then, they have grown into a network of advocates who support youth in contact with the carceral system with both day-to-day and long-term needs and work tirelessly to minimize those young people spend in jail. Thanks to the work of Youth Justice Network and other advocates, there are no more 16-17-year-olds incarcerated on Rikers Island. Until 2020, the City of New York was Youth Justice Network’s biggest funder. But when COVID-19 struck the city, the government reduced the nonprofit’s contract by 66% – forcing it to transition its fundraising strategy to one that focused on private donors. This loan will ensure that Youth Justice Network has enough cash on hand to continue providing critical services to youth while they build out their private fundraising program. Partners: Trinity Church Wall Street
Based in Denver, PlatteForum connects young people to professional artists in a safe environment where they can take creative risks and explore social issues through the arts. Through this process, youth participants develop academic, professional, social-emotional, leadership, and personal skills. They also apply an equity lens to their work, seeking out BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth who often face greater barriers to their success. Through their flagship Art Lab Future program, PlatteForum offers free tutoring, social-emotional mental health counseling, food support, immigration services, and social work services for youth participants who are experiencing homelessness or are in the foster care system. Due to COVID-19, demand for these services has tripled – driving up PlatteForum's program costs. Offered through our Metro Denver Nonprofit Loan Fund, this loan will both help PlatteForum meet this rising demand and support investments in key infrastructure improvements – like a better space and new computers for staff – that will help them thrive in the long term.
The mission of Athletics and Beyond is to create opportunities through exposure; the organization provides tutoring for student athletes, athletic programs, and supplemental education for adults in the workforce. In addition, Athletics and Beyond is deeply involved in community service, outreach, and beautification. NFF offered Athletics and Beyond a $100,000 working capital loan through the Metro Denver Nonprofit Loan Fund, a collaboration between NFF, Community First Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and The Denver Foundation designed to counter historic disparities in access to capital while financially supporting the Greater Denver region’s nonprofit ecosystem. Athletics and Beyond will leverage this loan to move towards achieving its five-year goal of serving 10,000 individuals annually, up from 3,000 today, by moving into its first gym facility. This space will serve as a community hub for the Green Valley Ranch, Montbello and Northfield neighborhoods of Denver.  Partners: Community First Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and The Denver Foundation

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Based in Boulder, CO, Women’s Wilderness is one of the only nonprofits in the world that provides direct outdoor experiences with a gender lens. They offer a variety of programs including backpacking, camping, canoeing, climbing, hiking, nature immersion, and rafting. They also have dedicated programs for people of color, LGBTQI+ individuals, and girls who have recently migrated to or claimed refugee status in the United States.  Women's Wilderness requested a $60,000 loan through the Metro Denver Nonprofit Loan Fund to finance a fleet of three vans. While COVID-19 is still a threat in the United States, these vans will allow the organization to maintain its current program capacity while still maintaining social distancing between participants. In the future, these vans will allow Women's Wilderness to increase the amount of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people it serves with its outdoor programming. 

The YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South works to strengthen community to make sure everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. In addition to its primary focus on youth development and healthy living for residents of all ages, the YMCA has also played an important role in the local COVID-19 response, providing school meals and childcare for essential workers. NFF’s $11 million NMTC investment and $1.5 million loan will support the construction of a new community center that will offer fitness amenities, after-school programs, and health and wellness activities.

Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) is a nonprofit independent media arts center in New York City. Founded in 1972, it fosters diverse viewpoints and creates positive social change by providing professional training, state-of-the-industry resources, and by creating and exhibiting thought-provoking, impactful documentary films. DCTV is building a new, 74-seat public cinema devoted exclusively to documentary film screenings. Located on the building’s ground floor, the cinema will serve as an expansion of the existing DCTV Presents programming, where the organization hosts screening events that engage audiences in documentary films about important social issues. NFF provided a $1-million bridge loan and a $1.1-million construction loan toward the $5.2-million project.

Partner: LISC

YMCA of Metro Atlanta is building a new center in the Grove Park neighborhood, Woodson Park YMCA. The 18,545-square-foot YMCA facility will provide programming for 150 children annually with group exercise classes, and after school programming, including a STEAM curriculum and day camps. It will also create 65-90 accredited Head Start seats;feature a Federally Qualified Health Center that will provide primary care services on a sliding fee scale based on a patient’s ability to pay; additional space for general health and community planning; and 18 new jobs for the community. NFF provided $9-million in NMTC allocation for the $11-million facility.

Partners: SunTrust Bank, Atlanta Public Schools, and The Grove Park Foundation.

Finger Lakes ReUse prioritizes the maximum reuse of building materials, electronics, household goods, appliances, and furniture through a community-oriented warehouse, shopping, and educational center. These items are used to create living wage jobs and support mentorship opportunities. NFF provided a loan to help Finger Lake ReUse refinance an existing mortgage on one of its properties.

Co-investor: Alternatives Federal Credit Union

Community Connections for Youth (CCFY) brings together grassroots faith and neighborhood organizations to develop community-driven alternatives to incarceration for youth in the Bronx, using an approach that is restorative and strengths-based and that links young people, their communities, and their families in the juvenile justice reform process. In 2017, CCFY was awarded a 5-year, $10.3-million contract from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, through the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative, to operate a “Youth Opportunity Hub” in Harlem. The hub gathers community-based organizations under one roof to provide a range of resources, services, and activities to support youth who have been involved or are at risk of involvement with the justice system. NFF’s $1-million line of credit will be used to prevent cash shortages as CCFY awaits reimbursement for this work and payments from other government contracts.

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