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Community Development and Affairs

• Bank on California
• Bank on San Francisco
• Bank Owned Community Development Corporations (Adobe PDF) - Community Developments Fact Sheet
• Banking the Poor: Policies to Bring Low-Income Americans Into the Financial Mainstream University of Michigan Law School, The John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics Working Paper Series, 2004.
• By the Numbers: Data and Measurement in Community Economic Development - April 20, 2006, Speech by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, At the Greenlining Institute's Thirteenth Annual Economic Development Summit, Los Angeles, California
• Center for Community Development Investments - The Center is dedicated to innovations in research and practice that increase the flow of investment capital to low- and moderate-income communities.
• Community Development at the FRBSF - From affordable housing to "banking the unbanked;" community development issues and initiatives.
• Community Investments newsletter (FRB) - Spring 2008 Issue - This issue highlights the San Francisco Fed's role in community development efforts taking place in the 12th District, including programs to help bank the unbanked, prevent foreclosures, and provide mortgage credit in Indian Country.
• CDFI Fund Programs

  Bank Enterprise Awards Program - Through the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program, the CDFI Fund supports financial institutions around the country that are dedicated to financing and supporting community and economic development activities. The BEA Program complements the community development activities of insured depository institutions (i.e., banks and thrifts) by providing financial incentives to expand investments in CDFIs and to increase lending, investment, and service activities within economically distressed communities. Providing monetary awards for increasing community development activities leverages the Funds dollars and puts more capital to work in distressed communities throughout the nation.

  Community Development Financial Institutions Program - Through the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program, the Fund uses federal resources to invest in and build the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services. The Fund provides monetary awards for financial assistance (FA) and technical assistance (TA) through the CDFI Program.

  New Markets Tax Credits - The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program permits taxpayers to receive a credit against Federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). Substantially all of the qualified equity investment must in turn be used by the CDE to provide investments in low-income communities. The credit provided to the investor totals 39% of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year credit allowance period. In each of the first three years, the investor receives a credit equal to five percent of the total amount paid for the stock or capital interest at the time of purchase. For the final four years, the value of the credit is six percent annually.

  Native American Initiatives Program - In September 1994, Congress mandated that the CDFI Fund conduct a study of lending and investment practices on Indian reservations and other lands held in trust by the United States. Specifically, Congress mandated that the study identify barriers to private financing, identify the impact of such barriers on access to capital and to credit for Native peoples, and provide options to address these barriers. Since the November 2001 release of its Native American Lending Study, the CDFI Fund has embarked on a number of initiatives designed to overcome barriers preventing access to credit, capital and financial services in Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities (collectively referred to as "Native Communities"). Through these initiatives, the CDFI Fund provides direct monetary awards and training (through contractors) aimed at increasing the number and capacity of existing or new CDFIs serving Native Communities.

• Community Investments Magazine (FRBSF)
• The Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America: Case Studies from Communities Across the U.S., FRBSF report. The challenges facing high poverty communities around the nation are the focus of a recently released Brookings Institution/Federal Reserve System report: "The Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America: Case Studies from Communities Across the U.S." Each of the 12 Reserve Banks examined a high poverty area in its District; The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco contributed to this report with a case study on West Fresno, one of the neighborhoods that contributed to Fresno's 2005 ranking as the city with the highest rate of concentrated poverty in the nation.
• Foreclosure Mitigation Resource Center (FRBSF) - Information on the Federal Reserve's efforts to mitigate the impact of foreclosures, including local data presentations and research reports.
• LesLe - Lessons Learned: Community & Economic Development Case Studies (ChicagoFed)
• Low Income Credit Unions

  National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is an independent federal agency that supervises and insures over 6,500 federal credit unions and insures more than 4,000 state-chartered credit unions. Over 800 of these entities have been designated as "low-income" credit unions in that they serve primarily low-income members in distressed and financially underserved areas. NCUA manages a Revolving Loan Fund and provides technical assistance grants to low-income designated credit unions. Low income credit unions can receive capital treatment for secondary capital loans . NCUA's Credit Union Data webpage allows for a search of all low-income credit unions.

  National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU) helps community development credit unions (CDCUs) provide affordable loans, secure savings, basic financial education and other vital services to low-income and minority consumers. NFCDCU serves as an intermediary for banks and thrifts interested in making deposits in CDCUs. www.natfed.org

• Multi-Bank Partnerships for Community Development Financing (Adobe PDF) - Community Developments Fact Sheet
• National Survey of Banks' Efforts to Serve the Unbanked and Underbanked
• Partnership for Progress - Federal Reserve System program created to preserve and promote minority-owned institutions and enhance their ability to thrive in an increasingly competitive banking environment.
• Publications on Unbanked and Underbanked (FRB)
• Small Business Administration Programs (Adobe PDF) - Community Developments Fact Sheet
• Success Measures Data System(SMDS), NeighborWorks America