The U.S. Department of the Treasury just recently released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the FY 2011 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The CDFI Fund is intended to expand the capacity of financial institutions to provide credit, capital and financial services to underserved populations and communities across the U.S. The CDFI Fund will also provide grants for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), the Federal government’s first coordinated step to eliminate food deserts by promoting a wide range of interventions that expand the supply of and demand for nutritious foods.

The CDFI Fund is providing up to $135 million for two types of awards:

Financial Assistance Awards: Under the Financial Assistance component of the CDFI Program, a CDFI may use the award for financial capital, loan loss reserves, capital reserves or operations. In FY 2011, the CDFI Fund will also make $25 million in Financial Assistance awards under the HFFI to certified CDFIs.

Technical Assistance Awards: Under the Technical Assistance component of the CDFI Program, certified CDFIs and established entities seeking to become certified may build their capacity to provide affordable financial products and services to low-income communities and families.

The application deadline for these awards is November 19, 2010 at 12:00 midnight Eastern Time. For more information, please click on the following links:

The Notice of Funding Availability:
http://www.cdfifund.gov/docs/2011/cdfi/FY_2011_CDFI_Program_NOFA.pdf

More general information about the CFDI Program:
http://www.cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/programs_id.asp?programID=7

Other important dates for conference calls and workshops:
http://www.cdfifund.gov/news_events/CDFI-2010-41-CDFI-Fund-Announces-Opening-of-FY2011-CDFI-Program.asp

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