Spotlight: Rabobank

5.01.2017 — LISC StoriesFunder in the Spotlight

Last year, Rural LISC received a generous $12,500 grant and a $2 million California Organized Investment Network (COIN) allocation from Rabobank. These funds were used to provide loans to four Rural LISC Partner community-based organizations (CBOs) working to develop affordable housing in California, including Self-Help Enterprises, Inc. (SHE), Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., Community Housing Improvement Program, Inc. (CHIP) and Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association, Inc. (CHISPA). Rural LISC has applied for another round of funding to continue to support SHE, Cabrillo, CHIP and CHISPA with their affordable housing work.

Rural LISC supports eight CBO Partners in Rabobank’s California market area, two of which are nonprofit intermediaries serving a statewide constituency. These organizations and the counties they serve include:

Cabrillo Economic Development Corp.: Santa Barbara, Ventura
California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH): all counties
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (CVHC): Riverside, Imperial
Community Housing Improvement Program, Inc. (CHIP): Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, Yuba
Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association, Inc. (CHISPA): Monterey, San Benito
Mutual Housing California: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Lake, Marin, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba
Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC): all counties except Alpine, Mono, San Mateo, Solano
Self-Help Enterprises, Inc. (SHE): Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare

Over the last 22 years, Rural LISC has invested more than $297 million in capacity building grants, predevelopment grants and lending capital to these eight California Partners, leveraging more than $1 billion. Through our support, these partners have created 7,899 affordable homes and 152,096 square feet of commercial, industrial and community facilities. They have also assisted 14 businesses and 232 children, and created or retained 46 jobs.

Rural LISC focuses on comprehensive community development, a strategy that has proved to be an effective way to bring about change in rural communities, through:

Expanding Investment in Housing and Other Real Estate
Increasing Family Income and Wealth
Stimulating Economic Development
Improving Access to Quality Education
Supporting Healthy Environments and Lifestyles.

Through this model, Rural LISC provides three major types of assistance to its Partners: funding, technical assistance and training. Rural LISC’s primary form of support to its Partners is in the form of biannual capacity building grants. Last year, Mutual Housing California received a $20,000 capacity building grant to identify potential farmworker housing projects and development sites in their service area, and to send two representatives to attend the Rural LISC Annual Seminar. The next round of capacity building grants will be held this summer. Rural LISC expects more than $210,000 to be awarded to six of its California Partners.

Beyond the capacity building grants, Rural LISC has the opportunity to award additional project funding. In 2015, $478,000 was awarded to 29 Partner CBOs across the nation for Rural LISC's Healthy Housing Initiative. SHE, CHIP and CVHC each received Healthy Housing funds, totaling $66,600.

CHIP used the funds to increase their capacity and knowledge for providing solutions to address water intrusion and mildew/ventilation conditions, as well as bat and pigeon infestation problems at Shotover Inn Apartments, a 21-unit farm labor rental community. CHIP made important health and safety improvements that have immensely benefited the residents, who now have cleaner, healthier homes.

Shotover Inn Apartments, Hamilton City, Calif.

In 2016, Rural LISC awarded $418,200 in Healthy Housing funds to 25 CBO Partners across the country. CHIP, CVHC and SHE were awarded a total of $50,800. The 2017 Healthy Housing round is expected to open this June. Additionally, Cabrillo, CVHC and RCAC received a total of $30,400 last year to support Arts and Culture initiatives. Rural LISC staff are currently reviewing CVHC and Mutual Housing California’s applications for the 2017 Arts and Culture Cohesive Economic Development Initiative.

In the next year, Rural LISC plans to continue providing one-on-one direct technical assistance and training to these Partners, and has requested additional grant funding from Rabobank to make this possible. Rabobank’s support will enable Rural LISC to maintain a high level of service and technical assistance for these California-based organizations that are producing exemplary programs and services for lower-income residents. Rabobank funds will be matched with Rural LISC resources to provide: capacity building grants, including training scholarships, predevelopment grants, repayable project investments, one-on-one technical assistance, Seminar Trainings, low cost loans, lines of credit and access to low income housing equity funds.

Rural LISC is grateful to Rabobank for its ongoing support over the years, helping us to support our Partners’ inspiring work to improve affordable housing across California.