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Funds Will Help Nonprofit Lender Support Low-and-Middle Income Families
PROVIDENCE, RI (April 5, 2024) Inflation, the high cost of utilities, and a possible recession are taking a toll on low- and middle- income (LMI) families. Nonprofit U.S.Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution (“CDFI”) Capital Good Fund has received a $1M equity equivalent investment from First Citizens Bank to help support and scale their work aimed at helping families with economic challenges meet their needs without having to turn to predatory lenders. Capital Good Fund provides equitable financial services and coaching to LMI families for a variety of key needs, including sudden emergency expenses, security deposits, green upgrades to their homes, and immigration expenses (citizenship applications, green card renewals, and family petitions, etc.).
“These funds will allow us to continue to expand our programs aimed at breaking the cycle of generational poverty,” says Capital Good Fund founder and CEO Andy Posner. “We are grateful to First Citizens Bank for their support.” The equity equivalent investment from First Citizens Bank will be used by Capital Good Fund to provide Impact, Immigration, and DoubleGreen Weatherization loans in five of the states that Capital Good Fund serves – Florida, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, and Massachusetts. The average Capital Good Fund interest rate for 2023 was 8.15% percent, which is far more reasonable than the interest rates of predatory lenders, which average 250 percent to 450 percent (depending on the state and the product).
“First Citizens is pleased to partner with Capital Good Fund,” said Mike Atkinson, senior director of community development at First Citizens Bank. “It’s part of our Forever First commitment to give back to organizations that help the communities we serve, and we’re glad to contribute to this important organization.”
A $1,500 Impact Loan from Capital Good Fund helped a single mother of four children, Tanya Hernandez, 32, of Von Ormy, Texas, pay rent when she was between jobs. “I was lost. I didn’t know what to do,” she recalled. “The loan allowed me to stay in my home.” Other lenders she spoke to either rejected her or offered her a loan with a prohibitively high-interest rate. “I cried with joy when I was approved. The Capital Good Fund loan was three times larger than I thought it would be,” she added. Hernandez recommends that other people in her situation never give up because there is help out there.
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About Capital Good Fund
Capital Good Fund is a Rhode Island-based nonprofit social change organization that uses financial services to tackle poverty and environmental injustice in America. Capital Good Fund offers financing, low-interest loans, and one-on-one financial coaching for the lower-income residents of Rhode Island, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. Since their founding in 2009, they have financed more than 14,000 loans totaling over $42 million with a 96% repayment rate and graduated over 2,000 people from their Coaching program. More at www.GoodFund.us.
About First Citizens Bank
First Citizens Bank helps personal, business, commercial and wealth clients build financial strength that lasts. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., First Citizens has built a unique legacy of strength, stability and long-term thinking that has spanned generations. First Citizens offers an array of general banking services including a network of more than 500 branches and offices in 30 states; commercial banking expertise delivering best-in-class lending, leasing and other financial services coast to coast; innovation banking serving businesses at every stage; and a nationwide direct bank. Parent company First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA) is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. Discover more at firstcitizens.com.
