When Susan Forte walked into a ribbon-cutting event in Pine Bluff, Arkansas earlier in 2025, she wasn’t there to network. She was there to listen. The community was opening a modular home — a project Communities Unlimited (CU) helped bring to life — and Forte, who runs HouseAboutIt Community and Economic Development Agency, knew firsthand the frustration rural towns face when they need help but don’t have the means to pay for it.
HouseAboutIt, headquartered in Little Rock with staff spread across the Delta, is a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a history of improving the quality of life for low-income, under-resourced, and underserved communities. The organization provides rural Arkansas and the Delta Region with education, workforce support, technical assistance, community revitalization, and economic empowerment through community improvement.
That gathering also put Forte back in contact with CU, an organization she had known since long before it took its current form. When alt.Consulting merged with Community Resource Group (CRG) in 2015, CU became something broader — pulling entrepreneurship, community development, and water infrastructure work under one roof.
That familiarity mattered this past spring when HouseAboutIt ran into a timing gap on a major contract.
A Connection Reignited
In Pine Bluff, Forte connected with CU’s Housing Team and Area Director Audra Butler. That relationship changed the direction of HouseAboutIt’s next phase. Butler recognized HouseAboutIt needed short-term working capital to keep momentum going on a contract extension the nonprofit had already earned. She referred Forte to CU’s Lending Team, where Economic Development Loan Officer Candence Brooks stepped in and helped facilitate a loan.
The CU loan, thanks to the ongoing support of the Sachs Family Foundation, bridged the gap between awarded funds and reimbursement. Without it, HouseAboutIt’s newest office in Lake Village might have remained a blueprint.
“We’re opening our office in Lake Village, and our contractor just finished,” Forte said. “The loan helped us get things moving — transporting furniture, getting signage, and covering operational needs to get the office up and running.”
The Lake Village office is the delivery point for a State of Arkansas Insurance Department Professional Consulting Services (PCS) contract that provides one-on-one guidance to Medicare beneficiaries, caregivers, disabled individuals, and families navigating enrollment under Part C, Part D, and Original Medicare. The client base is older, underserved, and often overwhelmed.
“We had our part, and we had another part coming, but there was a gap. That support helped us keep pushing. We can’t stop doing what we’re doing. The loan helped us open the Lake Village office and get people in place.”
— Susan Forte, HouseAboutIt
As a result of the loan, HouseAboutIt now has two offices — Little Rock and Lake Village. It employs seven people: five in Little Rock and now two in Lake Village thanks to the recent expansion supported by CU’s loan.
Forte now has the runway to keep HouseAboutIt moving forward.
“I feel good — really good,” she said. “CU trusted us. They’ve seen the work, and they’ve seen the dollars working. That gives me confidence.”
