Renaissance Community Loan Fund and FHLB Dallas Award $15K Grant to Southeast Mississippi Organization

Business Wire

Funds used to maintain organizational capacity and housing activities

HATTIESBURG, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Renaissance Community Loan Fund (RCLF) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) have awarded $15,000 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds to Recover, Rebuild, Restore Southeast Mississippi (R3SM).

PGP awards help qualified nonprofit organizations fund a variety of administrative activities that are critical to serving their communities.

R3SM, which received a total of $30,000 from four FHLB Dallas member banks, coordinates restoration, rebuilding and disaster recovery services for low-income families and individuals in Mississippi’s Pinebelt.

The nonprofit, originally founded in 2007 to assist and support victims of Hurricane Katrina, has generated more than $22 million in value to the Pinebelt from grants, donations and volunteer labor to build and renovate homes including the historic Volunteer House on Buschman Street, which serves as the administrative offices for multiple organizations and as a meeting place for the community.

R3SM will use the PGP grants to build organizational capacity, to support the Volunteer House and to assist housing activities.

“The resources available through PGP have strengthened our agency and have tremendously impacted the communities that we serve. The R3SM board, staff and volunteers are forever thankful for all our partners,” said Mavis Creagh, executive director of R3SM.

"Through the partnership with FHLB Dallas and members such as RCLF, community-based organizations (CBO) are able to receive much-need resources," said Kimberly LaRosa, CEO of RCLF.

“We are grateful for FHLB Dallas and PGP funds allowing us the opportunity to provide additional support to R3SM for the community-building work they are doing in Mississippi,” she said.

Funding under FHLB Dallas’ PGP was increased by $2 million in 2020 under FHLB Dallas’ COVID-19 Relief Program to support CBOs involved in affordable housing activities, stimulating small business development or providing small businesses with technical assistance. For 2020, program parameters also were expanded to include COVID-19 relief.

Through this unique grant program, FHLB Dallas member institutions contribute $500 up to $6,000 to a CBO, which FHLB Dallas matches at a new higher 5:1 ratio (compared to the previous 3:1 ratio) resulting in a match of up to $30,000 per member If multiple member institutions contribute to the same CBO in one year, the maximum FHLB Dallas match for those member contributions is $60,000 per year. In both cases, the total grant to the CBO would be the sum of the member contribution(s) plus the FHLB Dallas match. Grants are awarded annually through FHLB Dallas and its member institutions.

Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas said the higher PGP match this year made members’ contributions more impactful amid COVID-19.

“Working together with members like RCLF, we can provide more assistance to organizations whose community-building work is more important now than ever,” he said.

See the complete list of the 2020 PGP grant recipients. For more information about the 2020 PGP grants and other FHLB Dallas community investment products and programs, please visit fhlb.com/pgp.

About Renaissance Community Loan Fund

Renaissance Community Loan Fund (RCLF) is a Mississippi-based nonprofit certified Community Development Financial Institution established in 2007 with a focus on bridging the affordable housing gap and promoting community and economic development in the state. RCLF provides affordable mortgage and business lending and combined with critical financial counseling to the residents of Mississippi. For more information, please visit rclfms.com.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $83.8 billion as of March 31, 2020 is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 805 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information.