Morgan Stanley Awards $21.7 Million to Possibility Finance Community to Assistance Equitable Restoration in Underserved Communities and Bolster the CDFI Market

OFN will use cash for move-by means of grants to CDFIs and to enhance CDFI capability and affect

NEW YORK, July 13, 2021–(Business enterprise WIRE)–Right now, Morgan Stanley and Prospect Finance Community (OFN) declared that Morgan Stanley has awarded $21.7 million in funding to aid human funds and specialist progress for the Local community Enhancement Money Establishment (CDFI) network, and to make go-by means of grants to CDFIs. OFN will make pass-through grants in quantities of $100,000 – $250,000 to eligible CDFIs with considerably less than $25 million in property. These grants are designed to help CDFIs enhance their lending potential to the communities they serve. Mission-driven CDFI grant recipients will aid financial recovery and progress, especially in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and rural communities.

“We continue to combat for compact companies, nonprofits and local community-primarily based corporations that have been hit hardest by the economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and for communities that are struggling versus persistent poverty and racial inequality,” stated Lisa Mensah, President and CEO of OFN. “Through the powerful mixture of grant and personal debt money, as nicely as investments in human cash created achievable with assist from associates like Morgan Stanley, CDFIs are capable to catalyze systemic modify throughout underinvested communities in our country that have been left powering for significantly much too extended.”

CDFIs are personal economical institutions that supply reasonable, transparent financing and economical instruction to men and women and communities underserved by mainstream financial institutions. There are extra than 1,200 CDFIs doing work in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. OFN’s a lot more than 340 customers provide 60% persons of coloration, 84% low-income and 28% rural communities, and 50% women of all ages (OFN Annual Member Survey, 2019). Nationwide, the CDFI business manages additional than $222 billion.

“Morgan Stanley shares OFN’s deep commitment to supporting neighborhood-primarily based loan providers nationwide, particularly the smaller CDFIs that are key to revitalizing and stabilizing the communities and neighborhoods they provide,” claimed Pleasure Hoffmann, Government Director, Community Progress Finance at Morgan Stanley. “This new funding builds on Morgan Stanley’s multi-yr commitment of supporting CDFI networks and minority-depository establishments.”

This grant from Morgan Stanley is a strong enhance to OFN’s priorities and ongoing operate, together with by its Finance Justice Fund to assist CDFIs accelerate their impact across Black, Latinx, rural, Native and other significant poverty communities. Launched in November 2020, the Finance Justice Fund aims to increase $1 billion in money to finance around $420 million for little businesses, $420 million for reasonably priced housing, $70 million for consumer and other economical help, and $90 million for community amenities.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a primary world financial services business giving financial investment banking, securities, expenditure administration and prosperity management solutions. With offices in additional than 41 international locations, the Firm’s workforce provide clients throughout the world together with companies, governments, establishments and people today. For extra info about Morgan Stanley, please check out www.morganstanley.com.

About OFN

Option Finance Network, the nationwide community of CDFIs, strives to make sure lower-money and other under-resourced communities have entry to economical, dependable money merchandise and products and services. Customers of OFN are CDFIs that provide liable lending to aid minimal-cash flow communities be part of the financial mainstream. As a result of 2019, OFN’s network originated $82.7 billion in funding in rural, urban and Indigenous communities. This financing has assisted to build or retain more than 1,751,000 jobs, begin or extend 448,541 firms and microenterprises, and assist the progress or rehabilitation of far more than 2,148,000 housing models and much more than 12,000 group facility initiatives.

Perspective resource version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/property/20210713005831/en/

Contacts

Media Inquiries:
Katherine Stueber, Morgan Stanley, [email protected]
Courtney Holsworth, OFN at Raben Group, [email protected], (989) 572 8162