Brunswick, Maine, April 11, 2023—The U.S. Treasury Department has announced an award of $1.49 million to the Genesis Community Loan Fund, bringing the total awarded by the department to Genesis in 2023 to $2,55 million.

The grant comes from the department’s Equitable Recovery Program at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Genesis uses CDFI funding to address the affordable housing crisis across the state.

Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Treasury Department grants, which total $1.7 billion awarded to more than 600 community lenders, and represent the largest CDFI grant program in history.

“When we invest in community lenders, we help build a future where all people—no matter who they are or where they start—have the resources they need not only to succeed but to thrive,” the vice president said in a statement.

In January, the Treasury Department announced a $1,060,000 million award to Genesis, which was the largest CDFI Fund award made in Maine, among grants made to 252 CDFIs across the country.

The $1.49 million award just announced makes Genesis one of just three CDFIs in Maine to receive an Equitable Recovery Program award from the CDFI Fund. Program funding will strengthen the ability of CDFIs to help low- and moderate-income communities recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and invest in long-term prosperity.

The funds from the Equitable Recovery Program will be deployed to census tracts identified by the CDFI Fund as having experienced disproportionate economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible census tracts in Maine are located across the state, including areas in Belfast, Biddeford, Caribou, Eastport, Ellsworth, Ft. Fairfield, Houlton, Lewiston-Auburn, Lubec, Millinocket, Norway, Old Orchard Beach, Presque Isle, Saco, Sanford, and Waldoboro, among others.

“We are especially heartened by an additional award from the CDFI Fund at a time when it has never been more important that Maine puts affordable housing resources forward from a variety of sources,” said Liza Fleming-Ives, executive director of the Genesis Fund. “This will allow us to expand the Genesis Fund’s work to contribute capital and expert assistance to projects that create housing that’s affordable for Maine’s diverse people, in urban and rural communities, and with all kinds of affordable housing developers and organizations.”

Genesis will seek to leverage the total $2.55 million CDFI Fund award with an additional $10 million of community investment capital for a total of $12.55 million in new capital to be deployed for affordable housing. These funds will add to the $42 million revolving loan fund Genesis has to support high-impact affordable housing and community facility projects. Genesis builds its loan fund through investment loans from impact investors who receive a return on their investment, and with donations from individuals, organizations, foundations, banks, and other institutions.

About the Genesis Community Loan Fund: The Genesis Fund connects communities who are creating affordable housing and other essential community resources with the capital and expertise they need to overcome barriers to opportunity and prosperity. A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Genesis works throughout Maine and Northern New England to make flexible loans, deliver expert project guidance, and promote policy solutions and systemic change. We offer impact investing for individuals and institutions to move resources toward community needs. As simply as possible, we make projects happen that otherwise wouldn’t.

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Contact: Elyse Tipton, (207) 632-8983