Program Related Investments

MODELS & BEST PRACTICES

Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Brooklyn, NY)
www.restorationplaza.org
Founded in 1967, BSRC was an early PRI-success story, as the Ford Foundation used a PRI to guarantee a $3.4 million loan to support the construction of a commercial center. The center, Restoration Plaza, remains in operation to this day.

Bridge Housing (San Francisco, CA)
www.bridgehousing.com
This nonprofit housing developer has been a leader in the design and construction of transit-oriented development and mixed use (commercial-residential)/mixed income properties. Founded in 1983, by 2005 it had developed 11,000 homes for low and moderate-income families. In 2003, Bridge was the recipient of a $3 million program-related investment from the Ford Foundation.

Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. (Boston, MA)
www.cedac.org
The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) is a quasi-public intermediary that finances community development projects in low-income areas of metropolitan Boston. A 10-year, $1.5 million program-related investment from the Boston Foundation made in 2004 is expected to result in an additional 1125 units of housing for Greater Boston low-income individuals.

Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (Jackson, MS)
www.ecd.org
Enterprise Corporation of the Delta provides financial services in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi and the Greater Memphis area of Tennessee. Since 1994, ECD and its affiliate, Hope Community Credit Union, have generated over $150 million in financing for small business, homebuyer and community development, and assisted more than 10,000 individuals in low-income communities throughout the Mid South. A major source of ECD support has come from program-related investments including a $3 million investment (split between loan and equity) from the Ford Foundation in 1999 and a $250,000 PRI from the Heron Foundation in 2001.

George Gund Foundation, Program Related Investments (Cleveland, OH)
www.gundfdn.org/grants/grants_investments.asp
The George Gund Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to investment in Cleveland, is a leader among regional foundations in using program-related investments to leverage foundation assets in support of community wealth-building projects. The Foundation’s first PRI was made in 1984 when $333,000 was loaned to the Famicos Foundation for construction of the Lexington Village Project, a 183 unit housing development in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. Since then, nearly 25 separate PRI transactions have been completed. Currently, the Foundation has over $8 million invested in 13 active transactions.

Low Income Investment Fund (Oakland, CA)
www.liifund.org
Since the group’s founding in the mid-1908s, LIIF has provided capital and technical assistance totaling nearly $326 million in 35 states across the nation. LIIF's assistance, in turn, has leveraged investments in poor communities of over $2.2 billion—and has supported 42,090 units of low income and special needs housing; over 7,700 childcare spaces 875 student spaces in educational facilities; and 1.2 million square feet of commercial space. A major source of support of LIIF has been the Packard Foundation, which has provided a total of $14.5 million in support in the form of both grants and program-related investments.

Market Creek Plaza (San Diego, CA)
www.marketcreekplaza.com
This community development effort, supported by the Joyce Foundation since 1998, has used an intensive community planning process to convert an abandoned factory into a shopping center. The project has already led to the creation of 200 jobs in 11 stores and is expected to lead to a total of 1700 jobs. Community members have been filled 69% of all construction jobs and 91% of market jobs. Hundreds of residents also directly invested their own capital in the project. PRIs have played a critical financing role. Rockefeller and Annie E. Casey foundations each made $1 million in PRIs. The Heron and Legler Benbough foundations also supported the project with $500,000 in PRIs.

Neighborhood Community Capital (Cleveland, OH)
www.neighborhoodcapital.org
Within five years of its founding in 2000, NCC had supported the creation or preservation of over 3,100 housing units, 89% of which were affordable to those earning less than 80% of median income and 60% affordable to those earning 50% or less of median income. PRIs have played a key role. In 2003, MacArthur provided a $2 million program-related investment. Calvert and Fannie Mae Foundation have also invested in NCC.

Nonprofit Assistance Fund (Minneapolis, MN)
www.communityloantech.org
Over the past 20 years, Nonprofit Assistance Fund has helped support the financial capacity of nonprofits to achieve their missions. In total, it has provided $39 million in loans to over 1350 groups throughout Minnesota - ranging from daycare centers to dance companies. In 2003, the Nonprofit Assistance Fund received two PRIs of $500,000 each from the Bremer Foundation.

*UPDATED*
Opportunity Fund (San Jose, CA)
www.opportunityfund.org
Founded in 1993, Opportunity Fund (formerly Lenders for Community Development) has disbursed over $5.6 million to more than 2,300 savers through its individual development account (IDA) program, the nation’s largest. The group has also made over 600 loans worth over $8 million to support local microenterprise and has directed over $115 million in community investment into affordable housing and community facilities. A $1 million, 5-year 1% interest PRI from the Skoll Foundation received in 2005 has helped Opportunity Fund to further expand its microenterprise, affordable housing, and community facility loan programs.

Swan’s Market (Oakland, CA)
www.swansmarket.com
This effort involved a $20 million, 135,000 square project that included affordable housing, renovation of an existing market (Swans Market), a neighboring shopping center (Jack London Gateway), and cultural facilities (including a museum). Led by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, an Oakland CDC, it also received critical support from the Heron Foundation, which provided two PRI loans for a total of $600,000 to support the project.