For Immediate Release
Contact: Vicki Biggs @theLCMS 314-996-1236/ 314-556-3829 (cell) @VickiBiggs2
Funds enable housing ministry to take first step toward becoming a community development financial institution
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 16, 2013—The U.S. Department of the Treasury has awarded LCMS National Housing Support Corp. (LHS) a $78,179 grant through the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund to expand the housing ministry’s ability to provide loans in low-income and economically distressed communities.
LHS will use its first federal grant to build its internal capacity and create the infrastructure necessary to provide low-interest loans to LCMS congregations, districts, Recognized Service Organizations and other partners engaged in affordable home ownership and neighborhood revitalization efforts. In the process, LHS will gain the technical capacity it requires to become a CDFI.
“This award is monumental and serves to strengthen who we are and what we do,” said Nicole Ridley, LHS’ chief executive officer. “One of our goals is to provide more capital to LCMS entities and their partners in support of their projects in this vital ministry area, and with the CDFI grant, we are more strongly positioned to accomplish this goal.”
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) created LHS, a separately incorporated nonprofit, in 2007 to provide resources and support LCMS entities with the expertise and financial capability to help revitalize neighborhoods and provide affordable housing.
In the last two years, LHS provided grants totaling $397,413 to 31 organizations and project support to 71 organizations in 21 states and the District of Columbia.
LHS has partnered with congregations and civic and business leaders to revitalize the Spring Creek Nehemiah area in New York City, Ezra Housing project in Chicago, Lutheran Community Outreach Center in Fort Wayne, Ind., and, most recently, the College Hill neighborhood in St. Louis. With more than 4,000 homes constructed as part of Nehemiah, the community is now a model for successful, faith-based renewal.
To learn more about LHS, visit www.nationalhousingsupport.org.
About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a biblical, confessional, witness-oriented Christian denomination with 2.3 million members – 600,000 households – in 6,200 congregations. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church carries out its mission worldwide to make known the love of Jesus Christ. Learn more at www.lcms.org.
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