The CDFI Fund is one of the federal government’s most successful efforts to translate public investment into additional private dollars. Since its inception in 1995, it has invested $1.11 billion, and, on average, leveraged between $19 and $27 in other private sector investment for each dollar invested. To support this lending, leverage, and the resulting increased economic activity in low-income areas, IFF supports increased funding for the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund.

IFF was recently awarded $750,000 from the CDFI Fund for FY 2011. IFF will combine the $750,000 with other equity to leverage private debt to lend $120 million over the next three years, supporting a total of $267 million in community investment and bringing services to an estimated 460,000 people in need, including building capacity for 80,000 new patient visits in health care clinics, 9,600 new students in charter schools, and 1,300 people in affordable housing.