WHAT IS A CDFI?
A CDFI, or Community Development Financial Institution, is a lender certified by the U.S. Treasury to put capital into places mainstream finance overlooks: rural towns, Native nations, and communities living with persistent poverty. Communities Unlimited is one of them. We lend across seven states, and we stay alongside the people who borrow from us with coaching and support until the plan works. If a bank has told you no, a CDFI is often the yes.
KEY FACTS
- A CDFI is a U.S. Treasury–certified lender whose primary mission is community development, a designation created by the federal CDFI Fund in 1994.
- CDFIs lend in low-income and historically disinvested communities that conventional banks underserve, and they pair financing with coaching.
- Communities Unlimited has been a certified CDFI since 2001 and lends across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama.
- Communities Unlimited has made more than $45 million in Loans, 1,000 to $100,000, to rural small businesses and communities.
- Status: actively lending. You can start a conversation with our lending team any time.
WHAT DOES CDFI STAND FOR?
CDFI stands for Community Development Financial Institution. It’s a certification from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund, created by Congress in 1994. To earn it, a lender proves two things: that community development is its primary mission, and that most of its lending reaches low-income or historically disinvested communities. So a CDFI isn’t a charity and it isn’t a bank. It’s a lender built to move money into places the rest of the financial system passes over.
HOW IS A CDFI DIFFERENT FROM A BANK?
A bank answers first to its shareholders. A CDFI answers to a community. That changes everything about how the lending works.
Where a conventional lender sees a thin credit file or a rural zip code and says no, a CDFI looks at the whole picture: the business plan, the local need, the person across the table. We can take the time to understand your situation because understanding it is the job, not a favor.
CDFIs also do something most banks don’t. The loan comes with people. You get coaching, financial guidance, and a relationship that lasts past closing. The money is the start of the work, not the end of it.
WHAT DOES A CDFI DO?
A CDFI lends where credit is hard to find, and then it sticks around. At Communities Unlimited, that means loans for:
- Rural small businesses, from a first storefront to an expansion.
- Small farms and the people growing the local food supply.
- Water and wastewater systems that keep clean water flowing to rural towns.
- Community facilities like clinics, fire stations, and child care centers.
- Home improvements that let families stay in the homes they have.
And the effect doesn’t stop at the borrower. One loan to a rural business creates jobs, keeps dollars circulating close to home, and steadies the neighbors who depend on that business being open. That ripple is the point.
WHO CAN WORK WITH A CDFI?
If a mainstream lender has turned you down, you are exactly who CDFIs were built for. Rural entrepreneurs, small business owners, farmers, local governments, and water systems all work with CDFIs. You don’t need a perfect credit history or deep collateral to start a conversation. You need a plan and a willingness to build it with us.
IS COMMUNITIES UNLIMITED A CDFI?
Yes. Communities Unlimited has been a U.S. Treasury–certified CDFI since 2001. We work alongside rural communities across seven states: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama.
We’ve made more than 45 million in loans, ranging 1,000 to 100,000 to rural small businesses and communities, and we hold more than 16 million in assets. But the number that matters most is the one you can’t put on a balance sheet: a business that opened, a water system that came back into compliance, a family that kept its home. We lend so that rural communities can build sustainable prosperity on their own terms.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Tell us what you’re working toward.
Our lending team will talk through your options and what comes next, with no cost to start the conversation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a CDFI? A CDFI, or Community Development Financial Institution, is a lender certified by the U.S. Treasury to invest in rural and historically disinvested communities that conventional banks often overlook. CDFIs provide loans, capital, and guidance to small businesses, farms, community facilities, and infrastructure projects.
How is a CDFI different from a bank? A bank’s first obligation is to its shareholders. A CDFI’s mission is the community. CDFIs lend where credit is hard to find, take the time to understand each borrower’s situation, and pair financing with hands-on coaching, so a loan is the start of a working relationship, not just a transaction.
What does a CDFI do? A CDFI lends to people and projects that build local prosperity: rural entrepreneurs, small farms, water and wastewater systems, and community facilities. Alongside the financing, it offers coaching and technical support so each borrower can succeed.
Is Communities Unlimited a CDFI? Yes. Communities Unlimited is a U.S. Treasury–certified CDFI, certified in 2001, that works alongside rural communities across seven states: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama.
