Fully 10% of $1.25 Billion from Rapid Response Program & 29% of CU Awards
Credit Union Strategic Planning, the credit union movement’s largest organization for helping credit unions obtain Community Development Financial Institutions Fund grants, facilitated 65 successful CDFI RRP grant applications for credit unions, totaling $115.2 million.
The awards announced today for CU Strategic Planning clients nearly match the entirety of the company’s previous 12 years of achievement in helping credit unions serve low- to moderate-income families. The firm has now directly won nearly $250 million in grants for credit unions from the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund!
Vice President Kamala Harris made a historic statement on the importance of community development financial institutions announcing today’s release of funds to community development financial institutions through the CDFI Fund’s Rapid Response Program. Harris’s role in the announcement indicates the increased importance of CDFI in the administrations community development and assistance for working families.
“CU Strategic Planning is proud to be a key facilitator for CDFI credit unions to be a significant part of the solution to provide rapid relief funding to families and distressed communities,” said CU Strategic Planning CEO Stacy Augustine. “The rightful attention CDFIs are receiving – particularly the announcement coming from the Vice President today from the White House – has been spectacular and well deserved.”
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act provided $1.25 billion to the CDFI Fund for CDFIs delivering immediate assistance in response to the financial and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDFI RRP was designed to quickly deploy capital to certified CDFIs through a streamlined application and review process, allowing them to get help and funds into the hands of those who need it most – particularly those in economically distressed areas and underserved communities.
“Based on our credit union clients’ challenging, yet rewarding, efforts to serve hard-working Americans in underserved and underbanked communities, we’re not surprised at their success in obtaining grant funding through this special, emergency program,” Augustine commented. “Credit unions are the solution to eviction prevention, business sustainability and rebuilding and economic recovery for distressed families and communities.”