CFSB celebrates two-fold lending increase, other 2023 progress

Written By Scott Palmer

Thanks to all who joined us Wednesday for the release of our 2023 Annual Report (PDF). The Zoom event was our first virtual release, which allowed us to share additional details and field questions — an important part of our nonprofit’s commitment to reporting out to the community we serve.  

Video Replay

See the complete event below, or on our YouTube channel.

Highlights

CDFI Friendly South Bend believes that a community cannot be truly vibrant unless everyone has equal access to economic opportunity. We aim to help create equitable economic opportunities and combat discriminatory practices by connecting people to CDFI capital. In 2023, CDFI Friendly South Bend:

  • Celebrated a 217 percent increase in overall lending ($2.6 million, up from $1.2 million in 2022).

  • Developed two new lending programs: the Fusion Fest capital loan fund, and an affordable housing pilot fund

  • Launched our Capital Coaching program

  • Served 85 local business clients, most of which were either Latino-, Black-, or women-owned 

  • Connected eleven affordable housing developments to CDFI lending, helping the developers overcome South Bend’s pervasive appraisal gap issue.  

2023 Annual Report (PDF)

Click to read about these and other 2023 accomplishments.

Q&A

We also fielded questions at the virtual event and wish to provide further answers to a couple of those questions here. 

Number of Loans Closed and Diversity: We reported that we had 85 small business clients, resulting in the closure of 24 loans. To further break down the data: 13 of those 24 loans were to minority-owned businesses, and five were to women-owned businesses. We also helped four non-profits access lending in 2023. 

Plans for 2024: We shared our goal to expand our work into Elkhart County. Those efforts may include expanding the Fusion Fest Fund to help with other regional festivals, help companies diversify their supplier networking, or other ways that we can help leverage financing to make an impact not just in St. Joseph County, but in our entire region. 

Want to get involved in this impactful work? Reach out and let us know!

Scott Palmer
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CFSB Introduces Capital Coaching