Capps Announces $600,000 in Federal Funding for Housing Trust Fund of San Luis Obispo County To Help Finance Affordable Housing

WASHINGTON, DC – July 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23) announced that the San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institution Fund. The grant will allow the Housing Trust Fund to provide low-interest financing for affordable housing for middle class families in San Luis Obispo County.

“I am so pleased the San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund has been awarded this important federal funding, particularly given the cuts that it has faced at the state and local level. Jerry Rioux and his team do exceptional work in our local communities, and will put these federal dollars to good use in ensuring that working middle class families in San Luis Obispo County have access to affordable housing,” said Capps.

“We are ecstatic about this new CDFI Fund award. The funds will be used exclusively to finance affordable housing projects is San Luis Obispo County. Thanks to our earlier CDFI Fund awards, the Housing Trust Fund was able to finance 30% of all the housing starts in the entire county during 2010,” said Jerry Rioux, Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund.

Background on the CDFI Fund is included below.

The CDFI Program Awards: Through the CDFI Program’s Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of for-profit and non-profit community based lending organizations known as Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs. These organizations, certified as CDFIs by the U.S. Treasury Department, serve rural and urban low-income people and communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. Awards are granted through an annual competitive application process.

The CDFI Fund: Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded nearly $1.3 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the Bank Enterprise Awards Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program, and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $29.5 billion in tax credit authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program.