by Joe Hirsch
news@huntspointexpress.com
The Secretary of the United States Treasury, Timothy Geithner, came to the Point on June 29 to announce that economic help is on the way for poor communities around the nation hard hit by the recession.
Geithner told a crowded gathering on the roof of the popular Hunts Point community center that $90 million in federal funding is being made available to help facilitate loans for residents and businesses in low-income communities, including the South Bronx.
The money will be provided through Centers for Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which operate mainly in low-income neighborhoods. CDFIs were devised in 1994 during the Clinton presidential administration, as a way of freeing up capital for borrowers in communities where bank loans for small businesses and homeowners can be difficult to come by. CDFIs can take the form of community development banks, credit unions and venture capital funds, Geithner said, adding that Bronx small businesses and individuals have received $250 million in loans with favorable interest rates through the program since it began fifteen years ago.
The $90 million national boost is part of President Obama’s Recovery Act, through which massive amounts of federal money are being injected into the stumbling US economy.
Geithner told the crowd he chose the Point to announce the news due to the community organization having received a crucial loan from a CDFI in 1998 in order to buy the former bagel bakery on Garrison Avenue and keep it thriving as a community center.
“What that did was help the Point become an art, entertainment and entrepreneurial powerhouse, supporting kids who have talent but lack an outlet,” Geithner said.
Congressman Jose Serrano, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees funding for CDFIs, said the institutions “have an exemplary record of using their funding to offer loans, investments and other financial services in underserved neighborhoods.”
Serrano said that the Point is a prime example of how valuable the loans are for community organizations that lack more traditional financial support.
After Secretary Geithner and the federal entourage had left, Serrano stayed in the Point’s atrium, where artists from local art-producing non-profits were displaying their work.
“This is a good example,” Serrano said, referring to the Point. “It [the CDFI federal loan program] doesn’t shy away from small business. This is a small business.”
A version of this article appeared in the August issue of The Hunts Point Express.