AHEAD Program Grants Will Help 32 Innovative Initiatives Get Off the Ground
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco announced today that it has awarded $1 million in grants through its Access to Housing and Economic Assistance for Development (AHEAD) Program. The grants, which are made through the Bank’s member financial institutions, will be used by nonprofit organizations in Arizona, California, and Nevada for projects and programs that foster economic development and promote community stability and self-sufficiency.
The AHEAD Program enables the Bank members to give a critical, early boost to local programs and projects that address pressing local community development needs by: creating or preserving jobs; facilitating public or private infrastructure projects; or producing housing, social services, or other benefits for low- to moderate-income households.
Funds can be used to finance a variety of costs, ranging from studies and project plans to consulting fees or marketing, organizational, and capacity building activities. This year the Bank reviewed 125 applications requesting more than $5 million in AHEAD funding before selecting 32 AHEAD grant winners.
“A number of projects funded this year seek to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration by providing at-risk youth and others with new housing, financial education, college counseling, and job training opportunities, while others promote entrepreneurship and self-employment in low-income neighborhoods,” says Marietta Núñez, Vice President, Community Lending, at FHLBank San Francisco, “The Bank is delighted to deliver AHEAD funds in support of these efforts, and we applaud the success of our members and their community partners in finding innovative solutions to stabilizing distressed communities.”
This year, 17 Bank members—including two credit unions and the Bank’s first CDFI member—will be supporting 32 important initiatives, including projects and programs designed to:
create or expand job training programs and employment services targeted specifically to at-risk youth, low-income immigrant populations, participants in recovery programs, and others incubate or grow entrepreneurial social enterprises that generate living-wage jobs facilitate commercialization of emerging clean energy and environmental technology companies provide technical assistance and support to establish or grow healthy-food enterprises in underserved areas implement site improvement and economic development plans on a Native American campground create a multi-generational affordable housing village designed for families, children being raised by relatives, and transition-aged youth
“The AHEAD Program allows us to strengthen relationships between Bank members and nonprofit groups that have special expertise in economic and community development,” said Stephen P. Traynor, Senior Vice President, Financial Services and Community Investment at the Bank. “We are pleased that our grants will help get them off the ground.”
Funding for AHEAD is determined annually by the Bank’s Board of Directors. Since the program began in 2004, the Bank has awarded more than $4 million in AHEAD funds to support 162 projects and programs in Arizona, California, and Nevada.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco delivers low-cost funding and other services that help member financial institutions make home mortgages to people of all income levels and provide credit that supports neighborhoods and communities. The Bank also funds community investment programs that help members create affordable housing and promote community economic development. The Bank’s members—its shareholders and customers—are headquartered in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Members may include federally insured depositories—commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, and savings institutions—as well as insurance companies and community development financial institutions, including privately insured, state-chartered credit unions, community development loan funds, and venture capital funds that are certified by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Federal Home Loan Bank of San FranciscoMary Long, 415-616-2556 or 415-830-1246
longm@fhlbsf.com
Source: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
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