Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) announced today that the Genesis Community Loan Fund (Genesis Fund) in Brunswick has been awarded $1,165,000 through the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund).  This funding will support development of affordable housing and community facilities in low-income communities, and is awarded through the Capital Magnet Fund.

“By providing Maine’s nonprofit organizations with financial support and technical assistance, the Genesis Fund plays a vital role in assisting our state’s most vulnerable individuals and families in finding affordable housing,” said Senators Collins and King.  “This important funding will help connect Mainers with the resources they need to achieve economic independence.”

The Genesis Fund, founded in 1991, provides innovate financing and expert assistance to Maine nonprofits.  As a certified Community Development Financial Institution, the Genesis Fund helps some of Maine’s most vulnerable populations: single parents and their children, low-income working families, the elderly, homeless individuals, and people with disabilities.  The Genesis Fund has lent more than $40 million to more than 200 projects throughout the State of Maine.

The CDFI Fund, established by the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 as a bipartisan initiative, was created for the purpose of promoting economic revitalization and community development through investment in and assistance to CDFIs.

Last month, Senators Collins and Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency Director, urging continued funding of the Capital Magnet Fund.