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Mercy Loan Fund Receives Federal Grant to Further Affordable Housing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/23/2016

Contact:

Amelia Laing

Content Manager

alaing@mercyhousing.org

303-830-3432

Denver, CO–Mercy Loan Fund (MLF) announced today that it has received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund).

The Mercy Loan Fund Team. From left to right: Stefanie Joy, Lisa Taylor, Laurie Glasgow-Gill, Sheryl McCall, Jason Battista, Adam Kopp, Sandy Maben, Brian Sample.
The Mercy Loan Fund Team. From left to right: Stefanie Joy, Lisa Taylor, Laurie Glasgow-Gill, Sheryl McCall, Jason Battista, Adam Kopp, Sandy Maben, Brian Sample.

MLF, a subsidiary of Mercy Housing, Inc. (MHI), a leading national affordable housing nonprofit, will use the money to invest in much-needed affordable housing across multiple states.

“As the affordable housing crisis continues, and in many places worsens, most of the new development is going to market-rate housing,” said Jason Battista, President of MLF. “This generous grant will help us address the desperate shortage of affordable housing in the most vulnerable communities.”

Battista went on to say that the $3 million grant would be leveraged into a greater amount; anywhere from $30 to $50 million.

The award was made through the fiscal year 2016 round of the Capital Magnet Fund and will help awardees finance the development, purchase, preservation, rehabilitation, and development of affordable housing. The CDFI Fund awarded 32 organizations nearly $91.5 million in grants. The funding will also help organizations finance economic development and community service facilities.

“Affordable housing remains out of reach for far too many Americans,” said Antonio Weiss, Counselor to Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in a press release. “This funding will enable organizations across the country to expand access to affordable housing and help meet the critical needs of thousands of families.”

The announcement comes as housing costs continue to rise nationwide. In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in the U.S., renters need to earn a wage of $20.30 per hour, a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) found. The same report found that a renter earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would need to work 90 hours per week in order to afford a one-bedroom rental at Fair Market Rent (FMR).

About Mercy Loan Fund

For three decades, Mercy Loan Fund (MLF) has focused exclusively on funding affordable housing and essential community infrastructure projects that support affordable housing. By collaborating with socially-responsible developers, MLF has helped finance the development of single and multifamily homes for rental and homeownership. These developments help a variety of people including low-income families, the working poor, seniors, farm works, people who have experienced homelessness, and people with special needs. MLF is a subsidiary of the affordable housing nonprofit, Mercy Housing. For more information, please visit http://www.mercyloanfund.org.