Community Financing
These “alternative” entities, now referred to as community development financial institutions
(CDFIs), include community development banks and credit unions; community development
venture capital providers; micro-enterprise funds; and housing, business, and facility loan funds.
Although diverse in scope and structure, all CDFIs have a primary mission of improving
economic conditions for low-income individuals and communities by providing financial products
and services that usually cannot be obtained from more “mainstream” financial institutions. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS:
CURRENT ISSUES AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
Lehn Benjamin, Cornell University