PROVIDENCE – The Capital Good Fund received a three-year $665,000 grant from the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, CGF announced Wednesday.
The Capital Good Fund said the grant will allow it to increase its loan volume and reach. The nonprofit makes equitable loans to low-income families for a range of needs, including a vehicle purchase, repair or refinance, security deposits and immigration expenses.
“This CDFI Fund Award will enable us to achieve our strategic goals, including increasing the number of families impacted by our products and services, as well as geographic expansion,” said Capital Good Fund founder and CEO Andy Posner in a statement. “This funding will also allow Capital Good Fund to focus on providing loans for families in Persistent Poverty Counties, which have a poverty rate of 20% or more over a substantial period of time.”
Capital Good Fund offers personal loans ranging in size from $300 to $20,000, with an average interest rate of just 14%, the nonprofit said. The fund has financed loans to families in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware and Florida. The fund has financed loans worth roughly $9.3 million to 4,500 families in those locations to date. Its loan repayment rate is 96%.
The Capital Good Fund is the only Rhode Island-based lender to receive the grant this year. The fund had support from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who wrote a letter advocating for the nonprofit to receive the grant.
“CDFIs offer affordable financial products to underserved communities, and this award recognizes Capital Good Fund’s positive impact in Rhode Island,” said Reed in his letter. “Small loans can have a big impact. These federal funds will help ensure that even more qualified working families have access to affordable loans.”
The grant is expected to allow the nonprofit to finance $50 million in loans to 12,000 families during the duration of the grant, as well as financial and health coaching to 400 families.
The Capital Good Fund said its goal is to become operationally self-sufficient through earned income by 2024.
