[Durham, NC] November 4, 2024 — Self-Help has been awarded a $50 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from the US Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which is designed to spur investment and economic growth in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. A total of 104 Community Development Entities (CDEs) were awarded tax credit allocations this fall. The federal announcement can be found here.  

“New Markets Tax Credits are one of the most efficient economic development tools for low-wealth communities ever enacted, generating over 130 billion in total capital investment through public-private partnerships and creating more than 1.2 million jobs,” says Sarah Brennan, Structured Finance Sector Leader at Self-Help.  “With this most recent award, Self-Help is thrilled to continue to invest in catalytic projects that not only transform lives at the individual level, but re-shape entire communities.” 

“These investments have spurred job creation, the rehabilitation of commercial corridors, and the development of community facilities like health clinics, charter schools, and food banks, all examples of how New Markets Tax Credit investments are vitally important for low-income urban, rural, and Tribal communities across the country,” said CDFI Fund Director Pravina Raghavan in a statement from the US Treasury. 

Self-Help uses NMTCs to catalyze investment in under-served areas, with a particular focus on financing community facilities that serve low-income individuals and people of color.  Like many financial institutions committed to socially responsible lending, we see the program as a way not only to increase investment in low-wealth communities and create access to quality jobs, but also as a way to support and strengthen the local institutions that provide access to crucial healthcare and educational opportunities for underserved community members. 

This latest award builds upon Self-Help’s successes over the past 2 years, bringing its total NMTC allocations to $155 Million over the past three funding cycles, and $483 Million in total.  Self-Help will earmark half of the award to financing educational facilities, primarily high-performing public charter schools. The other half will be invested in healthcare projects that expand access to health and wellness opportunities for low-income individuals. Self-Help is primarily focused on deploying funds to high-impact projects located in our retail footprint, which includes California, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Milwaukee, the Greater Chicago Area, southern Virginia and the state of Washington.  

Self-Help has closed six NMTC projects since March 2023. Among them: 

• Bright Star Schools’ Valor Academy Elementary School (VAES) in North Hills, CA – Self-Help provided $10 Millionin New Markets Tax Credits and $16.4 Million in financing to build a new facility that will increase student capacity by 49%, from 370 to 552 students, and include 28 classrooms, a multipurpose room, and more. Bright Star VAES is dedicated to equity, fostering strong community engagement, and supporting students' social-emotional needs. 
  

• Esperanza Health Centers in Chicago, IL: Self-Help contributed $7 Million in NMTC allocation toward the construction of Brighton Park Phase 2, known as the BP2 Health Center. Esperanza is a high-performing federally qualified health center (FQHC) that ranks among the top 3% nationwide for patient care outcomes. Over 90% of the patients served are low-income people of color. The new 40,000 square foot health center allows Esperanza to serve an additional 20,000 unique patients annually at a campus located several miles from our Chicago FCU branches. 
  

• Health and Life Organization (HALO) Health Clinic in Sacramento, CA Self-Help provided $11 Million in NMTCs to finance the construction of a new 10,000 square foot health clinic by HALO that provides comprehensive medical and dental services to the public, regardless of patients’ ability to pay. HALO is a Hmong-founded and led non-profit that offers family medicine, dentistry, behavioral health, women’s health care, and pediatric health care services in 16 languages to nearly 40,000 Sacramento residents each year, 90% of whom live below the federal poverty line. 
  

• Comp Sci High in New York, New York: Self-Help provided $4 Million in NMTC allocation to finance the construction of a high-performing public charter school in the Bronx. The newly built high school serves 505 9th through 12th graders and incudes an incubator space where Comp Sci High hosts community events throughout the year as well as a summer program that employs its students in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) internships.
  

About the New Markets Tax Credit Program 

The New Markets Tax Credit Program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a non-refundable tax credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in financial intermediaries known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). CDEs that receive the tax credit allocation authority under the program are domestic corporations or partnerships that provide loans, investments, or financial counseling in low-income urban and rural communities. The tax credit provided to the investor totals 39% of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. The CDEs in turn use the capital raised to make investments in low-income communities. CDEs must apply annually to the CDFI Fund to compete for New Markets Tax Credit Program allocation authority. Since the inception of the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund has completed 20 allocation rounds and has made 1,667 awards totaling $81 billion in tax allocation authority. This includes $3 billion in Recovery Act Awards and $1 billion of special allocation authority used for the recovery and redevelopment of the Gulf Opportunity Zone. 

To learn more about the New Markets Tax Credit Program, please visit www.cdfifund.gov/nmtc 

About the Self-Help Ventures Fund

The Self-Help Ventures Fund is a nonprofit 501c (3) loan fund capitalized with loans and grants from foundations, religious organizations, corporations, and government sources. It manages Self-Help's higher-risk business loans, real estate development, and home loan secondary market programs. The Self-Help Ventures Fund is a part of nonprofit Center for Community Self-Help, a family of nonprofit organizations whose collective mission is to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all. For over 40 years, the national Center for Community Self-Help and its affiliates have provided more than $11 billion in financing to help more than 164,000 borrowers buy homes, start and grow businesses, and strengthen community resources. For more information, please visit www.self-help.org.

Jenny Shields, Director of Media Relations, Self-Help Credit Union

Direct Line: 919.794.6798 | Cell: 919.584.4379 | Email: Jenny.Shields@self-help.org