NFF Supports Enterprise, Education, and Expansion in First Three Quarters of 2017

New York – October 13, 2017 – Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) proudly supported the great work of nonprofits across the country with more than $46 million in loans during the first three-quarters of 2017. In addition, $31.5 million of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations were deployed into five different projects in underserved communities.

Among the recipients:

Social Enterprise 

LA Prep provides low-cost licensed wholesale production spaces to area food entrepreneurs. NFF was the lead lender (retaining $4.6 million) of a $16.8-million multi-lender package that was part of a $25 million NMTC allocation. The funds will be used to build LA Prep South, a 62-unit food manufacturing facility southeast of downtown Los Angeles, creating more than 200 jobs and providing small and medium-sized food entrepreneurs with a gateway into the competitive wholesale food industry.

Kitchens for Good is a nonprofit social enterprise in San Diego that tackles food waste, poverty, and hunger through workforce training, healthy food production, and operation of food-related businesses. NFF’s $200,000 line of credit will help the organization manage cash flow by bridging receivables, grants, and pledges. 

Hot Bread Kitchen aims to create economic opportunity for New Yorkers by fostering careers in the food industry. Its first 64 graduates have found employment in fair wage positions with benefits and opportunities for advancement. Additionally, its incubator space has served 172 businesses and entrepreneurs. NFF’s $550,000 financing includes a line of credit and a term loan, supporting equipment and leasehold improvements and providing working capital.

Youth and Education

Alliance for Progress Charter School aims to provide K-8 students in North Philadelphia with a “technologically rich and individualized learning environment.” NFF has financed Alliance since 2011; the most recent $2.2 million loan refinances NFF’s earlier, facility-related loan providing the 450-student school with continued access to affordable and flexible financing.  

Baxter Academy for Technology and Science is a STEM-focused high school in Maine that promotes social responsibility, innovation, and creativity. NFF’s $1.35-million loan will help defray construction expenses as the school moves to a new location in downtown Portland. The school currently operates out of two leased spaces; the project will allow it to consolidate in one building and increase enrollment from 340 to 400 students.

Brooke Charter Schools operates three K-8 schools in some of Boston’s most diverse and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with the mission of providing academically rigorous education with an eye towards college preparedness. NFF’s $4.5-million loan will help the network purchase a four-story building to house its first high school.

Citizens of the World Charter Schools serve diverse communities in Los Angeles, New York, and Kansas City with a philosophy based on understanding, connection, and diversity. NFF’s $625,000 line of credit will help bridge receivables associated with larger enrollment in two of its Los Angeles schools. 

Freedom Preparatory Academy currently enrolls nearly 1,300 Pre-K-12th-grade students in four charter schools in Memphis with the mission of college preparedness through a commitment to “highly structured, academically rigorous environment.” NFF’s $600,000 loan will help finance the acquisition and renovation of a permanent home for one of its two elementary schools, enabling it to grow from 62 students to 504.

Gestalt Community Schools, based in Memphis, was founded in 2008 as an answer to the city’s failing educational and economic standing. Gestalt has a vision of creating a campus for their cluster of charter schools. NFF’s $2.6-million loan will help Gestalt refinance an existing bank loan and purchase the strip mall where their high school is currently located. The additional space will help Gestalt relocate an elementary school, and attract mission-oriented organizations as tenants in the remaining space. 

Maple Street School is a parent cooperative preschool in Brooklyn that was founded in 1978 and works to provide a nurturing and creative first school experience for children. Maple Street has been an NFF client since 1999 and currently enrolls 134 children. NFF’s $350,000 term loan will help refinance a short-term loan that was used for leasehold improvements.

Pacific Charter School Development helps establish charter schools in educationally underserved communities in the Los Angeles area. NFF’s $4.5-million loan will help build a new facility for Ámino Ellen Ochoa Middle School in East Los Angeles. The school, part of Green Dot Public Schools California, currently operates out of two locations; under one new roof, it will be able to grow from 430 to 550 students.

Purpose Preparatory Academy is a charter school that began in 2013 with 90 Nashville kindergarteners and has added one grade each year since then. With 305 students currently enrolled in Grades K-4, Purpose Prep strives to instill its core set of values (purpose, respect, integrity, self-determination, and excellence) in each student. Purpose Prep will use NFF’s $500,000 loan to purchase its building and expand to 380 students.

Health and Mental Health

Centerstone of Florida specializes in mental health and addiction services serving over 170,000 clients annually with a focus on resiliency and recovery. NFF’s $4-million loan and $4-million NMTC allocation is part of a $6-million package helping the Bradenton-based division renovate and expand its community behavioral health hospital, adding additional beds in an area particularly hard hit by the nationwide opioid epidemic and creating a dedicated youth unit for intensive treatment of emotional disorders.

Charles River Community Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), provides almost 13,000 Boston-area patients with medical, dental, mental health, vision, and pharmacy services from four sites. NFF’s $975,000 leasehold loan will help Charles River meet its goal to serve 20,000 patients, by facilitating the move to a larger space, increasing the number of exam rooms, and creating a layout to support its team-based care approach. This was NFF’s third financing to Charles River:  In 2004, NFF provided a smaller leasehold loan, and in 2013, $8 million in NMTC allocation that helped Charles River construct a new facility in Allston-Brighton, doubling the number of patients served, reducing appointment waiting times, and gaining operating efficiencies.

HealthRIGHT 360 provides integrated healthcare and supportive human services to more than 30,000 California residents each year. NFF has worked with HealthRIGHT over two years to support its growth with a range of financing.  NFF’s most recent financing, a $3-million line of credit, will help the organization meet general working capital needs. In 2016, NFF led an $8.5-million debt financing loan as part of a $52.8 million NMTC financing package and provided a $3-million bridge loan, helping HealthRIGHT 360 construct its new “Home for Health” (read more here.) 

North Texas Area Community Health Center, provides healthcare services to the people of Tarrant County, Texas including pediatrics, adult care, and family planning for those in need including low-income and uninsured clients. NFF provided an initial bridge loan for land acquisition in May 2016 and recently provided a $4.3-million loan and $6-million NMTC allocation to help build a new 34,000-square-foot flagship facility.

OLE Health is a network of five FQHCs that provide a wide variety of health services in and around Napa, CA. NFF’s $3-million loan and $5.5-million NMTC allocation will help OLE build a three-story, 30,000-square-foot facility to house its women’s center, relieve capacity constraints at its largest center, and introduce a new model of care.

Urban Health Plan provides affordable health care in New York City with an eye towards continuously improving the lives of the people they serve. A returning NFF client, Urban Health Plan received $15 million in NMTC allocation and a $2-million NFF loan in 2011 as part of a $55.5 million new construction project. Urban Health Plan’s latest round of financing includes $6 million in NMTC allocation and a $4-million loan that will allow it to open a satellite clinic in a medically underserved area in the Bronx ensuring that the organization can continue to administer the same quality of integrated care it has provided since 1974.