CHICAGO COMMUNITY LOAN FUND RESOURCES AID COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN EXPANSION PLANS
COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN EXPANSION PLANS
Funds enable property acquisitions and improvements to bolster programs
Chicago, Ill. (April 3, 2023) – Some top-notch organizations have a viable expansion resource in the Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF), which empowers them with cashflow to more effectively leverage existing resources and build capacity.
For many, program expansion can be challenging. Expanding one’s organizational footprint, on the other hand, often is far more monumental a challenge. In 2022, CCLF provided funding or partial funding in the community in the form of loans to a mix of community-based organizations seeking to purchase properties (or make capital improvements) that facilitate existing mission-based programs or the establishment of new ones.
CCLF is not a conventional small business lender, but rather a real-estate community developer that provides flexible loans for housing, commercial real estate, community facilities and social enterprises.
Black Ensemble Theater, Blacks in Green and XS Tennis each tapped CCLF resources to purchase properties in their communities and expand their assets as well as their footprints programmatically.
• Black Ensemble Theater is a theater company founded in 1976 that produces works, especially musicals, related to African-American culture. It’s housed at the Black Ensemble Cultural Center in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Headed by its renowned founder, actress, producer and playwright Jackie Taylor, BET secured funding from CCLF to develop a new media technology center across the street from the theater.
• Blacks in Green, or BIG, is an environmental advocacy organization. Naomi Davis founded BIG in 2007 to design and develop green, self-sustaining mixed-income, walkable villages populated by African Americans and to educate community members and stakeholders.
CCLF provided BIG with a grant via the Communities in Color Fund in 2022.
• XS Tennis and Education Foundation is a not-for-profit organization with the mission to provide underserved Chicago youth with safe spaces and positivity through community-based tennis and academic enrichment that could lead to college enrollment. CCLF provided XS Tennis with capital for its current facility and to develop its next phase by purchasing property at 5410 S. State. The new loan will aid the organization, which is collaborating with the University of Chicago, to produce office space and housing for tennis players.
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