Mercy Loan Fund announced today that it has received a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund)

DENVER— Mercy Loan Fund (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.

“Affordable housing continues to be harder to find with ever increasing rents, flat income and shortage of financial assistance programs,” said Brian Sample, MLF Vice President. “This substantial grant will allow us the opportunity to broaden our impact as we work to combat the lack of affordable housing throughout the nation.” Sample went on to say that the $4.5 million grant would be leveraged into a greater amount; anywhere from $40 to $60 million.

The award was made through the fiscal year 2018 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 38 organizations nearly $142.9 million in grants. The funding will also help organizations finance economic development and community service facilities. “Securing affordable housing continues to be a necessity for many Americans across the country,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris in a press release. “These awards will lead to increased availability of affordable housing in both rural and urban communities. More than 25,000 affordable housing units are projected to be developed as a result of these awards.”

The announcement comes as affordable housing availability continues to dwindle nationwide. According to a recent National Low Income Housing Coalition report, the US has a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable and available to extremely low-income renters whose income is at or below the poverty guideline, or 30% of their area median income. Only 35 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.

About Mercy Loan Fund

For the past 34 years, 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.