Genesis Fund will use $825K grant to support affordable housing in Maine
The Genesis Fund, a nonprofit, mission-based financial institution based in Brunswick, has received a $825,000 grant from the U.S. Treasury Department to increase lending for affordable housing and other community development projects in Maine and New Hampshire.
The money is part of $180.3 million in competitive grants awarded by the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution Fund. In addition to the Genesis Fund, the Northern Maine Development Commission and Lewiston-based Community Credit Union received grants in this year’s funding round.
The $825,000 award to Genesis includes $300,000 designated for projects serving people with disabilities. The organization is one of only 14 nationally to receive a disability finance award, and one of only two that serve primarily rural markets in the U.S.
The grant will allow Genesis to use additional community investment capital to expand its $33 million revolving loan pool, which is used to support affordable housing and community facility projects in Maine and New Hampshire.
The fund said the award will help ramp up lending for projects addressing urgent community needs such as affordable housing, child care and responses to food insecurity, substance abuse and systemic racial inequities.
“We are so thrilled to be awarded this significant — and incredibly timely — grant award,” said Liza Fleming-Ives, executive director of the Genesis Fund. “This capital will help Genesis make projects happen that otherwise might not, supporting Maine and New Hampshire communities at a critical moment.”
The Genesis Fund provides capital to fill gaps in financing for projects where conventional lending opportunities are unavailable or insufficient. As loans are repaid, funds in the revolving loan pool are committed to new projects, so the funds in the lending pool benefit underserved people and communities over and over again.
Since 1992, the Genesis Fund has provided over $70 million in loans to over 300 projects, and has leveraged more than $400 million for the benefit of local communities.
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