CHFA Receives $3 Million Capital Magnet Fund Award to Finance Affordable Housing from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund

Leveraged with CHFA funds, other public and private investments, the Capital Magnet Fund award, will be used to create at least 200 units of affordable rental housing

(Rocky Hill, Conn.) – March 02, 2021, The United States Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund’s (CDFI Fund) Capital Magnet Fund has awarded $3 million to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA).  CHFA will use the award to prevent and end homelessness, particularly for those with disabilities, and finance affordable housing for target populations with extremely low– and very low- income.  The Treasury Department awarded a total of $175.35 million dollars to 48 organizations nationwide for the preservation, rehabilitation, development or purchase of affordable housing for low-income communities, as well as related economic development and community service facilities such as day care centers, workforce development centers and health care clinics. CHFA is one of only five state Housing Finance Agencies in the country to receive an award.

The Capital Magnet Fund awards are highly competitive, based on an organization’s capacity to increase the availability of affordable housing and the ability to leverage the funds.  Awardees are required to leverage their awards with other private and public investments by a ratio of at least 10 to 1.

“The Capital Magnet Fund award is a recognition of CHFA’s successful track record in  financing affordable housing that brings stability to people’s lives,” said Seila Mosquera-Bruno, Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Chairwoman of CHFA’s Board of Directors.

“Leveraged with CHFA funds and other public and private investments, the Capital Magnet Fund award, will be used to create at least 200 units of affordable rental housing, reduce homelessness and provide much needed housing for those in our state with the lowest income levels,” said Nandini Natarajan, CHFA’s Chief Executive Officer-Executive Director.  “CHFA’s 2020 Housing Needs Assessment revealed that for every 100 extremely-low-income rental households, those with incomes up to 30% of AMI, there are just about 40 available units of affordable rental housing. This funding will be used to reduce that gap and vastly improve peoples’ lives. As an example, this will provide more options for a family of four living in the Hartford area earning less than $30,000 a year to find a safe, stable, affordable home.”

According to the Connecticut Supportive Housing Demonstration Project Program Evaluation Report, when people with disabilities are connected to permanent, affordable housing with support services, system costs are decreased by up to 70 percent.

CHFA plans to match the $3 million award equally with its own funds and will additionally leverage the $6 million affordable housing pool with federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), a powerful tool for the creation and preservation of  affordable housing. CHFA is the state’s administrator of the LIHTC program, which generates an average of $80 million in private investment to affordable housing in Connecticut each year.

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The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) was created in 1969 by the Connecticut Legislature as a self-supporting quasi-public housing agency charged with expanding affordable housing opportunities for the state’s low- and moderate-income families and individuals. CHFA has helped more than 146,000 Connecticut individuals and families become homeowners through its low-interest single-family mortgage programs. In addition, CHFA has financed the creation of more than 56,000 affordable, rental units throughout the state. To date, the combined mortgage financing for CHFA’s single-and multifamily housing programs exceeds $17 billion. For more information: https://www.chfa.org