Our Investments

This investment provides capital for affordable housing development loans in the Atlanta, GA region, with a focus on supporting under-resourced developers. While ANDP serves communities across Georgia, it prioritizes high-risk neighborhoods in south metro Atlanta that continue to face limited access to quality affordable housing, capital disinvestment, and gentrification pressures. SCF’s loan will support ANDP’s bridge, predevelopment, and construction financing to local nonprofit and for-profit affordable housing developers, with proven success in developments within low-income neighborhoods. By expanding access to low-interest loans, this capital strengthens ANDP’s ability to combat housing instability and foster healthier, more resilient communities where Atlanta families can thrive.

This program targets “growth businesses” in Texas operated by women and minorities by utilizing flexible underwriting criteria (i.e. lower credit scores, lower LTV, smaller businesses, lower net worth, etc.) and intensive technical assistance. The goal of this program is to address long-standing wealth gaps and financing disparities for the most underserved populations. SCF has targeted a portion of its funds to be lent to BCL’s “Tranche 1” businesses which typically are newer enterprises with less track record and that require the most flexible underwriting parameters to qualify for loans. BCL is headquartered in Dallas with an office in Austin and it serves all of Texas.

This private equity fund was created to invest in (acquire or recapitalize) growth-stage, privately held companies located in rural and other underserved sectors of the US. These are the areas where growth equity capital is scarce yet necessary to compliment the debt capital that has sustained many of these companies. BHGCF will focus its national investment scope in the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic regions. BHGCF invests in small, middle-market companies—the growth engine that drives the rural economy and helps generate job growth. This is the first fund for Blue Highway Capital, a women-led partnership that also seeks to support women-led companies through its investments.

BCF provides working capital and flexible financing to help historically underserved small businesses—B2B firms— participate in corporate and government contracting supply chains. BCF’s loans help businesses fulfill contracts and invest in growth, in addition to their hands-on technical assistance, financial coaching, and back-office support that prepares businesses for procurement success. BCF partners with national corporations to support economic growth and resiliency in communities across the U.S and to ensure small businesses can benefit from the economic opportunities that come from these partnerships

This program targets to increase Fahe’s affordable housing and community facility development lending capacity across Appalachia. Fahe manages its own community serving loan programs, as well as deploys resources to its membership network of 50+ entities in 6 Appalachian states. This service region has been experiencing a chronic economic depression, with poverty rates that are double and with incomes that are half the national rates. This is coupled with a loss of its historic economic drivers (i.e. mining) causing high permanent job losses and vast under-investment to address long-standing social and economic challenges. FAHE’s work and investments seeks to counter these trends by supporting organizations that are building healthier and more connected rural communities.

GASBF is a new investment vehicle created to enhance and streamline large-scale capital raising for Grameen America Inc.’s (GAI) US-based small-business microloan program for low-income women. Organizationally, GAI’s targeted capital growth will enable it to achieve both corporate and branch-level financial sustainability by 2020. Programmatically, increased funding allows GAI to significantly increase its lending to low-income, female small-business owners characterized as having no source of affordable capital and no access to the banking system or financial education. Borrowers receive starting loans of $1,500 with no collateral requirements. The loans are structured as a group loan with five other friend or family borrowers, each with an individual loan. GAI’s program goals and outcomes include increasing business income, growing personal savings, asset building, credit building, increasing employment, and building more educated entrepreneurs. SCF’s capital has funded 370 loans totaling over $970,000 (2.8x its investment).

Lendistry—one of the nation’s only fintech certified CDFIs and a minority-led organization—creates economic opportunity and fosters sustainable growth for small business owners, particularly those not well served by traditional financial markets. In today’s financial landscape, small businesses face mounting barriers to securing capital, as many banks have scaled back or eliminated their small business lending programs and consolidation among community banks has further reduced options for entrepreneurs. During the height of COVID-19 pandemic, Lendistry’s underwent exponential growth by leveraging its tech-enabled financial platform to managing third-party COVID-related loan and grant programs. As the pandemic wanes and markets normalize, SCF’s investment capital provided support for Lendistry to transition back into doing direct lending.

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This capital provides disaster recovery loans to small businesses located within FEMA designated disaster areas in seven southern coastal states of the US (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina). In recent years, these states have experienced increased occurrences of climate-related large-scale disasters. These disasters severely affect the business community which slows recovery efforts as general resources and services remain in low supply post-disaster as well as community economic development can be stagnated if these businesses are hampered in reopening and growing as needed (40% of businesses never reopen after a disaster). These loan funds will be used for up to 3 years post disaster designation to assist with the immediate business disaster response and recovery within the affected regions.

SCF provided Northern Initiatives (NI), a CDFI, with a loan to support its new Regional Revolving Loan Fund program (RRLF) in Michigan. The RRLF lends to low-to-moderate income small-business owners in upstate rural Michigan. Funds from this investment are coupled with approximately $4.25 million in Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) funds from 12 rural Michigan counties. CDBG is a federal government sponsored program designed to provide low-to-moderate income people and businesses with funds to support various economic and community development activities. The pairing of SCF funds with CDBG funds provides NI with greater flexibility to deploy loans. SCF’s funds are able to be used for loan activities that are needed by the borrowers to achieve success but excluded by CDBG loan parameters. NI’s overall investment portfolio consists of 40% women-owned businesses, 60% microloans, and 20% start-up businesses.

SCF made an initial $250,000 Certificate of Deposit investment into the Self Help Federal Credit Union (SHFCU) general loan fund.The loans include auto, unsecured, and mortgage loans as well as affordable consumer loans like Dreamer, Citizenship and Just Right loans. Traditionally, loans from SHFCU have been distributed to 86% low-income borrowers, 93% to people of color, 33% to women; 63% of all loans have been made into distressed areas. The geographic scope of SHFCU’s lending has greatly expanded and loans are now being deployed within California, Illinois and Florida. As a CDFI, SHFCU has positioned itself as a national leader in providing financial services to low-income and underserved populations.

The Fifty-Five is a four-story mixed-use complex being developed by Gorman & Company. It incorporates 60 affordable apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms, all reserved for households earning between 30%-80% of area median income. The project also includes 7,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Located in East Point, Fulton County GA, on a 1.25-acre site, the project will also incorporate amenities, such as outdoor community gathering areas, a gym, and a computer center. As Atlanta’s economy grows and housing costs continue to rise, Fifty-Five Apartments will see that the community’s low-income residents have access to affordable quality housing options. SCF’s investment provided part of the project’s land loan to acquire the project site.