CDFI Rapid Response Program | Community Development Financial Institutions Fund

NEWS

Update June 15, 2021: U.S. Treasury Awards $1.25 Billion to Support Economic Relief in Communities Affected by COVID-19

Washington - The U.S. Department of the Treasury today awarded $1.25 billion in COVID-19 relief funds to 863 community development financial institutions (CDFIs). The awards were announced today by Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen. The grants will be made through Treasury’s CDFI Rapid Response Program (CDFI RRP) and will provide necessary capital for CDFIs to respond to economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in underserved communities.

BACKGROUND

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act; Pub. L. 116-260) provided $1.25 billion to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) to award Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) with grants to deliver immediate assistance in communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDFI Fund awarded these funds through the CDFI Rapid Response Program (CDFI RRP), which was designed to quickly deploy capital to Certified CDFIs through a streamlined application and review process. Through the CDFI RRP, CDFIs were provided with resources necessary to respond to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in distressed and underserved communities and people.

ELIGIBILITY

Organizations that were Certified by the CDFI Fund as CDFIs as of the date of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) publication in the Federal Register were eligible to apply to the CDFI RRP. Applicants for CDFI RRP must be in compliance with all outstanding CDFI awards, allocations, or bond guarantee requirements, as well as meet benchmarks for programmatic/financial safety and soundness.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The CDFI RRP was designed to quickly and broadly deploy capital to Certified CDFIs through a streamlined application and evaluation methodology. To meet the expedited award deadlines required by Congress for the CDFI RRP, the CDFI Fund utilized and leveraged its existing CDFI Certification and CDFI Program Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance application evaluation processes, as well as the Awards Management Information System (AMIS).

View the FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program Overview Presentation

INFORMATION FOR FY 2021 AWARD RECIPIENTS

Important documents for the FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program Award Recipients are below. Please check back as more documents will be added over time.

These documents are intended to help you understand what steps you must complete in order to receive award funds and to meet the compliance requirements of your award. Please direct questions to the Help Desk by submitting a Service Request through your AMIS account, emailing cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov, or calling 202-653-0421.

How to Complete a Financial Statement Audit Report in AMIS Lightning (Updated - June 23, 2022)
How to Complete CDFI Transaction Level Report (TLR) in AMIS Lightning (Updated - June 23, 2022)
How to Complete a Uses of Award Webinar (Updated - February 24, 2022)
How to Complete a Performance Report in AMIS Lightning (Updated - February 22, 2022)
CDFI Rapid Response Program Assistance Agreement Webinar (Updated - July 8, 2021)
FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program Assistance Agreement Template (Updated - June 16, 2021)
FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program Assistance Agreement Presentation
FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program Award Recipients List
Annual Compliance Reports Performance Progress Report (PPR) and Financial Audit Statement Report Data Points Descriptions and Related Guidance
Uses of Award (UOA) Report Data Points Description and Related Guidance

FY 2021 APPLICATION PROCESS

The FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program application round is now closed, and is no longer accepting applications. Please view the News section above to see the press release and list of Award Recipients for the FY 2021 round.

For reference, the NOFA, instructions, and supplemental materials for the FY 2021 round of the CDFI Rapid Response Program are below.

The CDFI Fund provided a pre-application webinar for the FY 2021 round on February 18, 2021. The webinar recording and presentation are available below.

FY 2021 Application Timeline

Date	Description
February 25, 2021	FY 2021 FY 2021 Round Opening
March 22, 2021, 11:59 PM ET	Deadline for Creating an AMIS Account
March 22, 2021, 11:59 PM ET	Deadline to enter EIN and DUNS numbers in AMIS
March 22, 2021, 11:59 PM ET	Deadline for Submitting SF-424 through Grants.gov
March 23, 2021, 5:00 PM ET	Last Day the CDFI Fund Will Answer Questions About the Application
March 25, 2021, 5:00 PM ET	Deadline to Receive AMIS Support from the IT Help Desk
March 25, 2021, 11:59 PM ET	Deadline for Submitting CDFI RRP Application through AMIS
June 15, 2021	FY 2021 CDFI RRP Awards Announced

FY 2021 APPLICATION WEBINARS

The CDFI Fund conducted two targeted live webinars to provide a forum to answer applicant questions about the FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program Application. View the recordings of the webinars below.

Webinar Topic	Date and Time	Conference	Access Link
FY 2021 CDFI RRP Application Webinar Workshop	March 3, 2021 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET	Webinar Completed	Access Webinar Recording
FY 2021 CDFI RRP Application Webinar Workshop	March 10, 2021 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET	Webinar Completed	Access Webinar Recording

FY 2021 Application Materials

The application materials for the FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Application are below. These materials are provided for reference only. The FY 2021 application round is now closed and no longer accepting new applications.