Loans: Charter Schools and Education
Featured Loan: Elevate Collegiate Charter School
Educating Houston's future leaders
$3,980,000 construction loan (October 2023)
Partner: Texas Charter School Development (TCSD)
Elevate Collegiate Charter School (Elevate Collegiate) is a new BIPOC-led and -serving charter school in the Third Ward neighborhood of Houston. The Third Ward is home to some of the most critical institutions in Houston's Black community, including Texas Southern University, Riverside Hospital, and dozens of prominent churches. Using a culturally responsive curriculum that reflects the diverse experiences of its students, Elevate Collegiate supports students' diverse educational needs through frequent progress monitoring, small-group instruction informed by that monitoring, and additional time in literacy and math to close gaps.
"Nonprofit Finance Fund's loan to Elevate Collegiate Charter School, in collaboration with Texas Charter School Development (“TCSD”), has enabled the school to secure a long-term home in the Greater Third Ward, providing a safe and inspiring learning environment for their scholars. With NFF’s support, TCSD is transforming Elevate’s campus to accommodate 472 students in grades PreK-5." - John Sun, CEO, Texas Charter School Development
NFF's loan and a $2 million subordinated loan from TCSD will finance Elevate Collegiate’s two-phase leasehold improvement. This renovation project will provide the financing needed to renovate 24,000 square feet of space to create 18 classrooms, support offices, a shared kitchen, and a multi-purpose room. This includes constructing a new 3,100 square-foot mezzanine level for student use.
This loan was supported by NFF’s credit enhancement grant program facilitated by the United States Department of Education's Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program. This credit enhancement grant program allows us to offer low-cost capital that helps start-up and single-site schools acquire, construct, and renovate new or existing facilities.
Interested in learning more about our work with charter schools like Elevate? Visit the Charter Schools page of our website.
$4 million participation in an $8 million facility loan with LISC as the lead lender (December 2023)
Partner: LISC
$1.6 million participation in a $16,390,000 renovation loan (December 2022)
This loan will support significant renovations to IPS’ fourth campus, the newest addition to its network. The school will be in the City of Renton, where 55% of the population identifies as BIPOC and the poverty rate exceeds the state and national averages. The project will result in 24 new classrooms, an administrative space, commons, a kitchen, a parking lot, and a playground. When the new school opens in the fall of 2023, this expansion will grow the school’s total capacity by nearly 600 students – allowing IPS to offer high-quality education to more students across Washington.
Partners: Civic Builders, Charter School Growth Fund, Washington Charter School Development
$3.01 million participation in a $6.02 million facility loan with LISC as a participating lender (July 2022)
RISE spent its first three years in a temporary site that it quickly outgrew. NFF financed RISE’s acquisition and renovation of their current campus – a four-story, 34,000 square foot building just half a mile from their original location. To date, NFF has closed three separate loans to RISE (totaling $~15.2 million), with LISC purchasing a 50% participation in each transaction. This loan will support the third and final phase of the project, which includes a double-story gymnasium, classrooms, and a conference room totaling 8,500 square feet. This brings RISE one step closer to their goal of creating more space for its rapidly growing student body and expanding its programs to more young scholars.
$500,000 bridge loan (May 2023)
Supported by the Hilton Foundation, this zero-interest loan will help UNITE-LA cover ongoing organizational and programmatic costs while waiting for delayed reimbursements from government contracts and grants. With support from this financing, UNITE-LA can continue to offer its education and workforce development programs that provide youth and adults with services and resources needed to succeed in education and beyond.
$100,000 working capital loan (October 2022)
In response to increased demand from the families it serves, over the past two years HWC has expanded its programs and established new ones, including a summer learning program and second-grade literacy pilot. Financed through NFF’s Bay Area Racial Equity Fund, which provides zero-interest loans with flexible repayment plans to BIPOC-led nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area, this loan will support the salaries of new staff that will expand the summer learning program and make the second-grade literacy program permanent. With this financing, Homework Central can continue investing in the success of even more students across San Mateo County well into the future.
$150,000 facilities loan (January 2022)
Marcy Lab School responds to this by offering a free, one-year software engineering fellowship to students who might not be able to afford a four-year college. Graduates learn how to code, contribute to and lead teams, and remain confident and composed under stress. They enter software engineering jobs that pay $70,000 or more per year. Most importantly, they leave the program knowing that their backgrounds and identities add value to every room they enter. Marcy Lab School has seen an increase in demand for its programs and would like to expand in response. This loan will support Marcy Lab School's expansion into a larger facility, allowing it to offer its programs to 20 more students, a 33% increase.
$250,000 working capital loan (January 2022)
Graduate Philadelphia receives a significant portion of its revenue from contracts with the City of Philadelphia; however, these payments are given after the organization offers services and are often delayed, creating cash flow issues for the nonprofit. Offered through NFF’s zero-interest CARE Fund, this loan will smooth over these cash flow challenges by bridging the period between when they offer services and when they receive payment. An additional source of revenue for the organization is contracts with colleges and universities; however, COVID-19 forced Graduate Philadelphia to cancel recruitment events where they networked with colleges and universities, and their revenue decreased as a result. A portion of this loan will also bridge the period until these events resume at their former frequency and contracts with colleges and universities return. With this capital on hand, Graduate Philadelphia can continue to provide the education and workforce development services that so many Philadelphians depend on to achieve their long-term goals.
$15.5 million construction loan: $8 million direct loan ($5 million from Reinvestment Fund, $3 million from NFF that includes a 50% participation to Bluehub Capital) $7.5MM source leverage loan within the New Markets Tax Credits structure ($5 million)
This loan will allow KIPP Philadelphia to move their elementary school to a property in West Philadelphia that has remained vacant since 2013. MIS Capital will renovate the entire property, preserving the historic façade and brickwork while making necessary updates to infrastructure like pipes and ventilation and completely redesigning recreational facilities. When this development is complete, KIPP Philadelphia will begin renting the property and opening it to students, with the ultimate goal of purchasing the building and giving its elementary school a permanent home. This development is part of a larger expansion that will allow the KIPP Philadelphia network to nearly double in size, serving an estimated 4,480 students by 2030.
Partners: BlueHub Capital, Cinnaire, National Trust Community Investment Corporation, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Reinvestment Fund, Truist Community Capital
$5,000,000 participation in an $18,445,000 loan (June 2021)
Partners: BlueHub Capital, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF)
$1.6 million participation in a $5.2 million facility loan (May 2021)
Partners: BlueHub Capital, HOPE Credit Union
$3.75 million sponsor loan + $910,000 direct loan (May 2021)
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
$835,000 participation in $7.5 million construction loan (April 2021)
Partner: Civic Builders
$1.94 million facility loan (April 2021)
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
$3.6 million refinancing of a facility loan (March 2021)
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
$1.4 million facility loan (March 2021)
Partners: BlueHub Capital
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