Setting the Stage for the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program and Designating Minority Lending Institutions
Earlier today, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) opened applications for the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program. The CDFI Fund team has spent the past year diligently working to deploy $1.75 billion in supplemental COVID-19 recovery resources that were included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260) to help CDFIs respond to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pooja Patel
CDFI Program and Native Initiatives
Pooja Patel
Program Manager
Pooja Patel is the Program Manager for the CDFI Program and Native Initiatives. Pooja has nearly 20 years of experience related to federal affordable housing and community economic development programs. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Pooja was a Senior Director at ICF. In this role, she managed a portfolio of projects focused on the successful design and administration of federal community development programs, including establishing and evaluating policies, guidelines, and methodologies that guide program operations.
CDFIs Serve People with Disabilities
The US Census Bureau defines disability as a long-lasting physical, mental, or emotional condition. This condition can make it difficult for a person to do activities such as walking, climbing stairs, dressing, bathing, learning, or remembering, which can impede a person’s ability to go outside the home alone or to work at a job or business. Vision impairment, mental illness, diseases such as diabetes or multiple sclerosis are examples of disabilities.
CDFI Equitable Recovery Program Pre-Application Webinar now Available!
For those preparing to apply for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 CDFI Equitable Recovery Program application round, the CDFI Fund has recorded an informational pre-application webinar. Topics covered include setting up your critical SAM.gov and Grants.gov accounts, adjusting your organizational profile in the Awards Management Information System (AMIS), and other ways your organization can prepare in advance for the FY 2022 application round.
Interested in the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program? Get Ready to Apply Today!
Interested in applying to the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding round for the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program (CDFI ERP)? The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is tentatively planning to open the fiscal year (FY) 2022 CDFI ERP application round later this spring. Now is a great time for organizations to begin to prepare to apply for a CDFI ERP award.
Interested in the Small Dollar Loan Program? Learn More and Get Ready to Apply Today!
Pre-Application Webinar Scheduled for April 27, 2022
Later this spring, the CDFI Fund will be accepting applications for the Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program). The SDL Program was created to encourage Certified CDFIs to establish and maintain small dollar loan programs and provide alternatives to high cost small dollar loans. For this program, small dollar loans are unsecured loans of up to $2,500. The grants may be used for two eligible activities, loan loss reserves and technical assistance activities.
Did You Know? Eligible Uses of the Small Dollar Loan Program
Did you know that the CDFI Fund has a program that can help your organization expand and strengthen your small dollar lending program? The CDFI Fund’s Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) was created to help expand consumer access to financial institutions by providing alternatives to high cost small dollar lending.
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Certification Policy and Evaluation
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Program Manager
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Shannon McKay
Financial Strategies and Research
Shannon McKay
Program Manager
Shannon McKay is currently the Program Manager and Research Analyst in the Financial Strategies and Research Unit at the CDFI Fund. She has been with the CDFI Fund since 2019 where her portfolio has included managing the data collection, cleaning and report development of the Fund's Annual Certification and Data Collection (ACR) report, as well as supporting other research initiatives.
Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Shannon was the Research Manager in the Community Development department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Her research work there included small business lending, foreclosures, neighborhood stabilization, homelessness as well as workforce development and worker displacement. Shannon holds a Ph.D. in Urban Studies and Planning from MIT, a M.S. in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.A. in Economics from Vassar College.