ABOUT COMMUNITIES UNLIMITED · EST. 1975
RURAL PROSPERITY,BUILT ALONGSIDE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE
For 50 years, Communities Unlimited has worked alongside rural communities across seven Southern states, connecting people to capital, expertise, and the tools to build lasting prosperity where traditional institutions won't go.
50
years of service
7
states in the south
$101M+
loaned since 1992
$1.36B
secured for communities
Communities Unlimited is a nonprofit CDFI and rural innovation hub in rural community development. We bring rural small business loans, water & wastewater expertise, affordable housing, broadband, and community-owned economic development under one roof, for the towns and people larger institutions overlook.
WHY COMMUNITIES TRUST US
A TRACK RECORD YOU CAN TRUST.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
WE FILL GAPS OTHERS LEAVE BEHIND.
Large institutions chase scale. We go the other way, to the small rural towns and the people too often left out, where a modest loan or a first-ever water map changes everything.
Lending, infrastructure, housing, and business expertise sit side by side here. When one challenge turns out to be three, you don’t get handed off. You get all of us.
OUR PROMISE
To partner with people working their way out of persistent poverty and connect them to solutions for sustainable prosperity.
OUR PURPOSE
Talent is spread evenly across the country. Opportunity is not. Where you live should never decide your future.
OUR APPROACH
Human connection plus technology and expertise, connecting people to solutions that sustain healthy lives, businesses, and communities.
OUR HISTORY
FROM ONE RURAL WATER PROJECT TO A SEVEN-STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT HUB.
1975
The beginning. Founded as Northwest Arkansas Human Services by three Community Action Agencies, with no staff, no assets, and one broad mission to improve rural life.
1976
Water becomes the mission. John Squires takes the helm, "We don't want an engineer," and identifies the first six rural water projects.
Late 1970s
Community Resource Group. A new name and a widening mission, from water into rural transit and beyond.
1980s
Seven states, not ten counties. A defining choice to grow, from a local nonprofit into a regional rural development leader.
1991
The loan fund. A revolving loan fund launches with the Ford Foundation and USDA, the roots of today's CDFI lending.
1998
alt.Consulting founded. A parallel effort launches business support for rural and minority entrepreneurs across the region.
2014
The merger. Community Resource Group and alt.Consulting merge to form Communities Unlimited, bringing infrastructure, lending, housing, and business under one name.
Today
50 years later, seven states, one mission. A rural CDFI and innovation hub across lending, infrastructure, entrepreneurship, housing, broadband, GIS, and community sustainability.
"We go forth and do good, wherever we can."
John Squires, Founding Executive Director
OUR IMPACT
FIFTY YEARS, BY THE NUMBERS
473
Counties served across 7 states
3,447
Water & wastewater systems assisted
2,254+
Small businesses served
5,700+
Loans made since 1991
80
GIS mapping projects completed
$60M
Leveraged for rural broadband
WHAT "CDFI" MEANS FOR YOU.
A Community Development Financial Institution is a lender certified by the U.S. Treasury to serve the people and places traditional banks pass over.
For a rural family, a small business owner, or a small-town water system, that means real financing paired with hands-on expertise, not a form letter and a denial.
OUR PROGRAMS
ONE ORGANIZATION,MULTIPLE PATHWAYS TO BUILD PROSPERITY.
LENDING
Loans for water systems, small businesses, homeowners, and communities.
COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Technical, managerial, and financial support for rural water and wastewater systems, and homeowners with private systems.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
One-on-one coaching, training, and market guidance so rural business owners can stabilize, grow, hire locally, and build lasting wealth.
HOUSING
Tackling the chronic shortage of safe, affordable homes in the rural South through home repair, modular housing, workforce training, and financing for families with few other options.
COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY
Partnering with small towns to build local leadership, set their own priorities, and turn community-owned plans into lasting economic change.
BROADBAND
Planning, funding strategy, and technical guidance to bring reliable high-speed internet to the most under-connected rural places.
WHO WE SERVE
WHERE PERSISTENT POVERTY RUNS DEEPEST, AND LOCAL TALENT RUNS STRONGEST.
Across Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas, we build self-reliance alongside the rural communities most often left behind.
~1/2
80%
30+ Years
60%
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Communities Unlimited (CU) is a 50-year-old nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and rural innovation hub. It works alongside rural communities in persistent poverty across seven Southern states — Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama — connecting people to capital, technical expertise, and the tools to build sustainable prosperity.
Communities Unlimited brings rural small business lending, water and wastewater expertise, affordable housing, broadband, GIS mapping, and community-owned economic development under one roof. When a community’s challenge turns out to be several at once, the same organization handles all of them rather than handing people off.
Across seven Southern states — Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas — home to roughly half of all U.S. persistent-poverty counties, 80% of them rural. Communities Unlimited has served 473 counties across this region.
A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is a lender certified by the U.S. Treasury to serve the people and places traditional banks pass over. For a rural family, a small business owner, or a small-town water system, that means real financing paired with hands-on expertise — not a form letter and a denial.
he organization traces its roots to 1975, when it began as Northwest Arkansas Human Services and took on rural water projects. It grew into a seven-state development organization and adopted the name Communities Unlimited in 2014, when Community Resource Group and alt.Consulting merged — 50 years of continuous rural work.
Both. Communities Unlimited is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a federally certified CDFI lender. It provides technical assistance and also lends directly — more than 5,700 loans since 1991 — to rural borrowers who fall outside conventional bank financing.
Since 1991, Communities Unlimited has deployed over $101 million in loans (5,700+ loans) and leveraged $1.36 billion in funding for rural communities. It has assisted 3,447 water and wastewater systems, served 2,254+ small businesses, completed 80 GIS mapping projects, and leveraged $60 million for rural broadband.
Yes. Communities Unlimited is federally certified as a CDFI by the U.S. Treasury and publishes its finances every year — independent audits, IRS Form 990s, and an annual report. It has worked in rural communities for 50 years without walking away when the work got hard.
Rural communities facing persistent poverty across the seven-state South. About half of all U.S. persistent-poverty counties sit in this region, 80% of them rural; residents there have lived in poverty 30+ years on average, and 60% are people of color. Communities Unlimited builds self-reliance alongside them.
Rural residents, business owners, water systems, and community leaders across the seven states can request services directly at communitiesu.org. Communities Unlimited pairs financing with hands-on guidance, so a single conversation can connect you to lending, infrastructure, housing, broadband, or business support.
