Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Awards More Than $250,000 Through Its Community First® Capacity-Building Grant Program
Contact: Jaclyn Toll, 312-565-5840, jtoll@fhlbc.com
CHICAGO, July 30, 2019 – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) is pleased to announce that $258,660 was granted through its Community First® Capacity-Building Grant Program to seven nonprofit organizations that lend in Illinois and Wisconsin. Below is a list of award recipients and the member financial institutions with whom they partnered in the application process.
| Recipient | Member Institution |
| Chicago Community Loan Fund | First Midwest Bank |
| Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Inc. | Associated Bank, N.A. |
| Corporation for Supportive Housing | BMO Harris Bank, N.A. |
| Forward Community Investments | Associated Bank, N.A. |
| Impact Seven | Town Bank |
| Justine Petersen Housing and Reinvestment Corporation | Associated Bank, N.A. |
| Legacy Redevelopment Corporation | Associated Bank, N.A. |
The Community First Capacity-Building Grant Program is in its third year and fills a gap in funding for nonprofit lenders, providing them with operational support that can otherwise be hard to find, giving them the opportunity to expand their capacity, and increasing their impact on affordable housing and economic development in Illinois and Wisconsin.
“We are proud to recognize and invest in organizations whose work focuses on improving the social, economic, and financial well-being of our communities,” said Suzi Thackston, FHLBank Chicago Community Investment Officer. “We seek to strengthen and elevate our members and their partners’ commitment to long-term transformational change and thriving communities.”
Through this unique program, the nonprofit lenders awarded will use the funds to support the enhancement of loan processing systems, information technology upgrades, development of human resources policies, procedures, and materials, staff diversity training, and professional development of staff and boards of directors.
Recipients were evaluated based on the organization’s mission, strength, strategy to increase community development lending within Illinois and Wisconsin, diversity of population served, and proposed uses for the grant funds.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
To learn more about the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and its full range of Community Investment programs, please visit www.fhlbc.com or @FHLBC. “Community First” is a registered trademark of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.