Our loans support four types of projects: 

• Affordable Housing loans for all phases and types of housing – from multi-family rental to home ownership
• Community Facility loans to finance the construction or rehabilitation of essential  human service facilities
• Economic Development loans to ventures that produce jobs and financial stability, including worker-owned cooperative businesses
• Operating Lines of Credit and Working Capital Loans  uniquely designed to help nonprofits meet cash flow requirements

Since our inception, NCCLF has committed over $107 million to 312 community revitalization projects while maintaining a cumulative loan loss rate of less than 0.5%, and has provided technical assistance to hundreds of additional nonprofits.  Our loans have leveraged over one billion dollars from private, public and philanthropic sources to create or preserve 6,285 affordable housing units for low-income families and individuals, and to finance over 1.7 million square feet of neighborhood-serving nonprofit and retail space. These loans have also helped create or retain 4,127 jobs. 

 Comerica has been a long time supporter of NCCLF and its community revitalization mission.  Since 2002, Comerica Bank has been supporting the many lending programs and tools that we offer to nonprofit agencies who serve low-income communities throughout Northern California.

 “We are proud to again be able to support the fine work of the Northern California Community Loan Fund through this major grant.  We are always very proud of the work that NCCLF does in helping revitalize communities, and we are proud of our partnership,” said Becker.

 Comerica is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and is among the 25 largest banking companies.  Comerica Bank has  115 banking centers in California and Arizona, with  448  banking centers worldwide.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/american-life/profiles/Classical-Musician-Spearheads-Mexican-Folk-Revival-in-US-Mexico-83046737.html

We urge all our fellow nonprofits to participate in this important survey. Produced by the Nonprofit Compensation Associates, the Nonprofits Compensation and Benefits survey will help:

• Set fair salaries and benefits to attract and retain the best employees
• Evaluate industry standards for compensation for a range of positions
• Budget and plan for the cost of adding new staff members
• Analyze your own jobs and compensation
• Stand up to the scrutiny of an increasingly skeptical public
• Compare your salaries and benefits with others in our community

 To find out more about this important project, and to sign up to participate, please visit http://www.nonprofitcomp.com/. The deadline to participate is March 8, 2010.

We are here 23 years later because of the power of an idea, the idea that local capital can and should be used to meet local needs; that people of good will from all walks of life can come together to create a strong, effective financial institution that works to foster social and economic justice; that we can indeed work together to build community, and bring new hope to people’s lives.  

 Jane lives her ongoing commitment to promote social change and justice by monetarily supporting organizations she believes in through Art ExChange, which she formed.  Art ExChange works like this:  if there is an item of Jane’s you would like for your own – a painting or a drawing, say – she asks that you make a donation of $300 to NCCLF.  If it is a piece of her concrete work you are interested in, the donation would be $50.  To purchase a Jane-designed table the donation would vary; this transaction would be discussed directly with her.

Images of Jane’s art can be found on her website, http://www.janebakerart.com/, along with more information about Art ExChange.  There is also a list of organizations with whom Jane has previously worked.  NCCLF is extremely pleased to be a part of this list, and to be partnering with Jane on this endeavor.

In the mid 1980s, Helen had a vision of an organization that would pool resources with the intention of loaning money to nonprofits that were working in low-income communities.  That vision became the Northern California Community Loan Fund, now in its twenty-fourth year of providing financial resources and technical training throughout Northern California.

 Helen’s painting career began in 1995 when her daughter started pre-school.  Her style is influenced by “simple, natural forms – the personality, volume and energy they convey in different configurations.  I love the varied qualities and gestures of lines – how they meander around the canvas, connecting some shapes, setting others apart…..my paintings tend to be joyful as well as mysterious and odd…”

 In addition to her painting, Helen has been involved with film making for many years.  Before starting her own independent film making company in 2004, Helen was co-director of Women’s Educational Media (now Groundspark), a nonprofit organization specializing in the production and distribution of social issue documentaries.

 To view this dramatic show, please drop by our offices any weekday from 9:00 a.m. -  5:00 p.m.  We have a price list available should you be interested.   And for further information about Helen, please go to her website, http://www.openstudioproductions.com/.

TNDC building staff provide free meals to low-income residents. Photo courtesy of TNDC.

In the fall of 2009, NCCLF joined three other Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to provide $6.79 million in financing to the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). TNDC will use this funding to acquire a large parcel of prime real estate at the corner of 5^th and Howard Streets in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood.  The collaborative venture includes lead lender Enterprise Community Loan Fund (ECLF), along with NCCLF, the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), and Opportunity Fund (OF). It will provide TNDC with a unique opportunity to take advantage of the current real estate market in preparation for future development of affordable housing and human services.  NCCLF provided $1 million of capital for the project.

For nearly 30 years TNDC has been hard at work in the Tenderloin and its surrounding neighborhoods to create affordable housing for very low-income people. Most of the individuals TNDC serves struggle to survive on monthly incomes of less than $1,000.  Currently, TNDC owns and operates 25 buildings and serves over 2,500 people. They have multiple projects in their pipeline in addition to the 5^th and Howard site, where they hope to develop between 137 and 155 units.  20% of these units will be reserved for homeless households with a 15 – 20% Annual Median Income (AMI). For a family of four this would be the equivalent of an annual income of $19,350.  The remaining units will house families with an AMI of up to 60%. For a household of four this would equal $58,100.

We are thrilled to help finance this project both because of its high impact on the need for affordable housing in San Francisco, and because of TNDC’s comprehensive approach and excellent track record.  TNDC focuses on revitalizing poor communities via community organization and outreach, involving local businesses as well as individuals. They provide a variety of on-site social services for their residents which include information about medical resources as well as substance abuse and mental health programs. In addition, they sponsor an after-school program which serves over 200 children in a supervised and safe space. In short, TNDC takes a holistic approach to stabilizing the lives in the communities they serve and, by extension, those communities as a whole.

With offices just two blocks away, TNDC is a neighbor of NCCLF’s, and we are proud to join with ECLF, LIIF, and OF to further their goals and see the remarkable achievements in the Tenderloin and surrounding neighborhoods.  The Mayor’s Office of Housing has committed nearly $5 million to this project, which not only demonstrates the support of the public sector, but the trust and confidence the city has in TNDC.  Person by person, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood: TNDC continues to stand by their commitment to provide affordable housing and human services for low-income San Franciscans.  Their commitment to the future shows no sign of wavering.

ACCESS supporters at a reproductive rights rally. Photo courtesy of ACCESS.

In 2007, the National Women’s Law Center reported that nearly one in five women in California lacked health insurance. Of these uninsured, over 60% were low-income women. This number has likely grown since the economic crisis increased the ranks of unemployed or underemployed women in the state.  Fortunately, local clinics and nonprofits are often able to step in and provide some of the crucial services and support needed by uninsured California women. NCCLF recently had the chance to provide consulting services to one such extraordinary nonprofit – ACCESS.

 The mission of ACCESS is to remove barriers to the sexual and reproductive health care experienced by California women and girls, and to build their power to demand health, justice, and dignity.  ACCESS works to bring reproductive options and quality healthcare to low-income and uninsured women, young women, immigrant women, and women in rural or isolated areas.  The organization seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical reproductive rights and the reality faced by many women.

 Founded in 1993, ACCESS was originally a project of the Women’s Health Rights Coalition. Today it is an independent nonprofit organization that has helped more than 25,000 women obtain reproductive information and healthcare services quickly and confidentially. Their multi-strategy approach provides women with the support they need to make important choices about their health and their lives. The three diverse program areas of ACCESS – the reproductive healthline, community action, and policy advocacy – promote access to reproductive health services, and enable women to overcome economic, social, and geographic barriers to care.

 Beginning in September 2009, NCCLF partnered with ACCESS to begin a comprehensive six-week financial training consultation. As a small nonprofit, ACCESS lacked the internal financial infrastructure necessary to make informed financial decisions for the future. Destiny Lopez, ACCESS Executive Director, explained, “We got to a place where we realized our financial structure was satisfactory, but not as good as it could be. We were at a point where we didn’t know what the next best step was. As a professional grassroots organization, it was time.”

 NCCLF’s Consulting team conducted an in-depth review of the organization’s financial systems and information. Working with the ACCESS Board of Directors, staff, and management, NCCLF created a balanced budget incorporating three-year savings goals and strategic decisions for the future. Participants learned how to read and use the new financial statements to make informed financial and programmatic decisions.

Said Lopez, “Everyone from the board chair to the most junior staff member thought it was the most useful training they ever went to.  It helped [ACCESS] clarify what the most critical financial documents were – what the board needs to see, what the staff needs to see. We learned that the financial information you put in is only as good as the financial system you use, so we took a step back to look at our structure. Now, with a few simple documents, we’re able to forecast where we are, and where we want to be.”

Established in 1988, SMHA’s mission is to develop and operate permanently affordable housing that builds strong and stable communities through resident participation and leadership development.  Today, SMHA’s housing portfolio includes fourteen properties spread throughout Sacramento and Yolo counties, which, in all, house nearly 2,600 low- and very low-income residents.

Glen Ellen Estates was the first affordable housing project built by SMHA. The site consists of two-bedroom apartments and townhomes for families, a large central courtyard with a children’s playground, a community room, and on-site laundry facilities. Financing from NCCLF will support the replacement of second-floor decks, and the installation of energy-efficient windows and new flooring and carpeting. The funding will also allow SMHA to make improvements that will meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This event was a short preview to a more comprehensive training session NCCLF will co-host with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation on February 23. The workshop will provide an overview of how NMTC’s can be a financial tool to renovate existing facilities or fill the final funding gap in a facility development budget.

The event will be held in the Pacific National Bank conference room from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm. To register for this event, click here. For more information , please contact Karen Sullivan at (415) 392-8215, or at ksullivan@ncclf.org.

AHA used financing from both NCCLF and the City of Oakland to buy the property. AHA is rehabilitating the building and converting it into 30 units of affordable housing for very low-income people, with 11 units set aside for individuals with special needs. Future residents will have access to a newly renovated courtyard, picnic area, vegetable garden, laundry room and common room, and 25 of the units will have private parking spaces.

AHA is a long-time NCCLF client that since 1993 has developed over 715 units of high quality affordable housing. AHA currently has 231 affordable units under construction in communities throughout the Bay Area.