CDFA regularly reviews its role in the community development, economic development, and affordable/workforce housing fields, and coordinates its efforts with other state and federal agencies, and charitable and community-motivated organizations. CDFA strives to be a public, but innovative and entrepreneurial organization that is able to provide both financial and technical assistance to worthy projects unable to find such necessary assistance through any other means.
CDFA is a public authority whose operations are mostly financed through internally-generated fees and investment income. CDFA’s Grants and Initiatives are self-funded. Therefore, depending on availability of funds, from time to time, CDFA provides grants to worthy community and economic development projects.
CDFA offers two types of grants:
1. Capacity building for affordable housing organizations through the Housing Futures Fund and Regional Development Corporations (RDC) through the RDC Capacity Fund and;
2. Discretionary Fund for various innovative projects where traditional funding is not available.
CDFA Project Initiative:
Child Care
The Child Care initiative has been supported by CDFA for several years and is ongoing, but no additional funds are available for new initiatives.
CDFA Grants
Capacity Building
CDFA's enabling legislation specifically states that CDFA may, "Issue grants to finance operating or other costs of community development corporations and employee cooperatives under RSA 162-L:5." CDFA is committed to providing capacity building and organizational support to housing and community development organizations. For capacity building initiatives CDFA offers the Housing Futures Fund and the Regional Development Corporation Capacity Fund.
Housing Futures Fund
The Housing Futures Fund assists community-based, nonprofit housing organizations to achieve growth and stability, and increase their capacity for providing affordable family and workforce housing. Historically, the Fund has strengthened the capitalization, management, and governance of this maturing nonprofit housing sector.
The Housing Futures Fund (HFF) has two components: a grant program and a technical assistance program. The grant program makes operating grants to eligible organizations. The technical assistance program, implemented by the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, provides the HFF grantees with several areas of assistance including: supplying needed capital and related technical assistance for projects undertaken for which financing from other sources is unavailable; enhancing the organization’s technical capacity; and affordable housing advocacy efforts to create a political climate that is user-friendly for nonprofit development of affordable housing.
In June of 2005, the CDFA Board of Directors approved $850,000 in Community Development Investment Program funds over a two year period, of which $760,000 was awarded for capacity building to 10 New Hampshire nonprofit affordable housing agencies and $90,000 for the technical assistance program provided by the NH Community Loan Fund.
While CDFA raises the money through the Community Development Investment Program, the Housing Futures Fund Advisory Committee – consisting of representatives from donor organizations – continues to review applications and make recommendations to the CDFA Board of Directors for final approval. Because the members of the advisory committee represent the donor organizations, the donors are aware of how their money is being spent. This benefits not only the donors, but also the grantee organizations.
The Fund is supported by CDFA, the NH Housing Finance Authority, and generous contributions from the Bank of New Hampshire, Citizens Bank, and Providian National Bank, and contributions to this fund are currently being accepted.
Application
CDFA is not currently accepting applications to the Housing Futures Fund. Typically application rounds are held every two years. The next anticipated application round is in 2007. As funds become available, CDFA will issue a request for proposals.
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Regional Development Corporation Capacity Fund
The Community Development Finance Authority was conceived as a vehicle for providing change that would foster affordable housing and economic opportunities for low and moderate income citizens. To execute this change, CDFA works extensively with its partners — community development organizations, nonprofits involved with community development, cooperatives, and certain municipal entities. The success of CDFA, therefore, depends on the success of its partners.
CDFA Board of Directors realizes that organizational capacity does not develop quickly. Therefore CDFA has made a financial commitment to the Regional Development Capacity Corporation Fund which provides operational support to the Regional Development Corporations (RDCs) statewide.
In 2005, the CDFA Board of Directors allocated $300,000, for a one year period, in Community Development Investment Program (CDIP) funds to the New Hampshire Alliance of Regional Development Corporations. The Alliance is a network of economic development organizations established to support, enhance, and promote economic development efforts to the individual needs of the various regions throughout New Hampshire. The Alliance will distribute the CDIP funds to its 12-member RDCs.
Each RDC offers a variety of services that best meet the needs of its constituent communities and businesses, but they all have revolving loan funds to support an array of economic development projects in their service areas. The revolving loan funds were principally created by loan repayments of CDBG Economic Development grants from the for-profit businesses. Municipalities and counties apply to CDFA to use the CDBG Economic Development funds, but typically the funds are subgranted to a RDC. The RDC then loans the money to a for-profit business for it to create or retain jobs for low and moderate income people. When the for-profit business pays back the loan, a portion of the money goes into the RDCs revolving loan fund for future projects. New Hampshire’s RDCs are the regional leaders in facilitating the growth of economic development capital, supporting community development and redevelopment, and creating/retaining jobs critical to the economic health of New Hampshire.
Application
CDFA is not currently accepting applications for the Regional Development Corporation Capacity Fund. As funds are available, we will issue a request for proposals.
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Discretionary Fund
From its inception, CDFA has taken an entrepreneurial interpretation of its mission to support community development activities. CDFA has challenged the state’s nonprofit community development organizations to propose development projects that meet the needs of their regions and communities.
CDFA is able to do this because its Board of Directors upholds a liberal interpretation of the Authority’s legislative mandate, as allowed by the law, and has avoided establishing narrow criteria for CDFA support. CDFA recognizes that other issues – training, child care, transportation, sprawl, and health care – are major factors in people’s lives.
From time-to-time, when funds are available, CDFA encourages innovative solutions through its Discretionary Fund Program. Projects funded under this initiative are required to show the same broad support, soundness, and financial commitment as other projects approved by CDFA through its other programs. The fund is intended to provide opportunities for deserving projects that would otherwise not fit into other CDFA initiatives.
Application
Because this Fund is only available when money is available, interested parties should contact CDFA with a project in mind to confirm that there is money available.
Discretionary Fund Examples
CDFA awarded the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests with a $5,000 discretionary grant toward the production of the Livable Landscapes Project (LLP) in collaboration with New Hampshire Public Television and Cross Current Productions. The LLP is a one-hour PBS documentary that explores the changing relationship between people and the land in northern New England – New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. It presents current land use changes in an historical context, tells stories about representatives that have experienced both “good” and “bad” growth, and profile community efforts to address sprawl-related issues.
CDFA awarded TEAM Jaffrey $4,046 for the Park Theater Feasibility Study, which investigated the feasibility of reopening the Park Theater in Jaffrey for performances and other public uses.
CDFA lent support to the NH Community Action Association by contributing $1,200 towards its Annual Conference. Topics offered at the conference included staff development, effective fundraising, fiscal accountability, employment law, housing issues and available housing resources, information technology, and also provided specific training for the Head Start and Women, Infants, and Children’s Programs.
CDFA provided $15,000 to Southwest Region Planning Commission for the development of a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for its service area.
CDFA provided Franklin Business & Industrial Development Corporation (FBDIC) with a $5,000 technical assistance grant to help defray the cost of engineering and design work in the Franklin Industrial Park. FBIDC’s ultimate goal is to expand the Industrial Park by extending road, sewer, and gas onto a 75-acre parcel in Franklin, NH.
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Initiative
Child Care Initiative
Child care services are a key ingredient to maintaining healthy communities in New Hampshire. The CDFA Board of Directors has long held the view that access to child care provides an educational and social system that is essential to the economic vitality of our communities. As with workforce housing, access to affordable child care is an important piece of the infrastructure that supports New Hampshire’s economic engine.
Over the last five years, CDFA has allocated over $200,000 to the Child Care Initiative. The initial funding was to transform the NH Child Care Association, an all voluntary statewide child care organization, into a private nonprofit entity that would elicit business community support, improve access to quality child care, and provide technical assistance to the nonprofit child care centers.
Over time, many of the nonprofit child care associations decided to minimize duplication and maximize efficiency, so they agreed to merge into one organization – Early Learning NH. CDFA’s Child Care Initiative has enabled Early Learning NH to increase its member services by coordinating professional development opportunities; increase its public relations and community outreach by raising the awareness about the importance of the early years and fosters local and state level action on the improvement of early care; and increase its public outreach and education by actively supporting public policies designed to improve the accessibility of quality early care and education to every family in New Hampshire regardless of where they live or their household income.
“Child Care Keeps NH Working: The Economic Impact of Child Care in the Central New Hampshire Region,” is a study that was researched and written by Central New Hampshire Region Planning Commission and was commissioned by CDFA. The report is the first economic impact analysis of the child care industry undertaken in New Hampshire and the results are clear— the child care industry is critical to the region and the state’s economy.
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