Ohio’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) Have Financed More Than 50,000 Affordably-Priced Homes, Nearly 26,000 Micro Business Loans

Columbus, Ohio (4-18-26) – Today, Ohio credit unions hosted a Zoom press conference to highlight the importance of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) fund, which allows CDFI credit unions to help Ohio members, communities, and local economies succeed financially. Federal investments for the CDFI fund are currently at risk of being cut as elected leaders in Washington debate the FY2027 budget.

·        Currently, the White House is proposing a $204 million cut to the CDFI program to reduce funding from $324 million to $120 million in funding for FY 2027.

 

Ohio is home to 20 credit union CDFIs that serve members and communities across the state. CDFIs exist to spur economic growth in communities that are traditionally financially underserved and might not otherwise appeal to investors.

 

“The CDFI has helped us in doing more focused investments, like down payment assistance, in underserved areas.  We also helped individuals with trade school assistance, deferring payments and interests until they graduated. This is all to help people better themselves,” said Bill Wittig, CSE Federal Credit Union.

 

“Being a CDFI is very important to us. It helps us serve the Miami Valley in the way we were originally intended to: putting people before profits. We’re able to reach out to the underserved communities in Dayton and extend lending to them that financial institutions are traditionally not able to,” said Joe Eckley, Day Air Credit Union.

 

“We use the CDFI funds in two different ways: partnering with area high schools on financial education and then working with parents of those students for home loans, auto loans, and more,”said Christine Blake, Cardinal Credit Union.

 

“We are able to do a lot of really great things as a CDFI. We offer a non-traditional student loan program to help adults get certified in the trade schools to improve financial stability. We offer payday lending alternatives for folks in a tight spot. The work that CDFI credit unions are doing today is more important than ever,” said Angela Finn, Commodore Perry Federal Credit Union.

 

“It will be a great impact for us if we lose that funding. Some of our programming will go away immediately. We do a lot with financial literacy and small business funding programs. With our credit union the impact would be great losing those funds,” said Jacqueline Moore, Faith Community United Credit Union.

 

According to the Ohio CDFI Network, Ohio CDFIs have created or retained more than 75,000 jobs; have financed more than 50,000 affordably-priced homes, and have financed more than 25,000 micro business loans. Ohio CDFI lending has occurred in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

 

Credit unions are not-for-profit, member-owned, community-based, and democratically controlled financial institutions. Investing in local communities and helping underserved communities secure the investments they need is part of Ohio credit unions’ mission to secure financial well-being for all.

 

A full list of Ohio’s CDFI credit unions and their locations can be found below:

1.    Abbey Credit Union, Inc., Vandalia, OH

2.    Atomic Credit Union, Piketon, OH

3.    Buckeye State Credit Union, INC., Akron, OH

4.    CSE Federal Credit Union, Canton, OH

5.    Cardinal Credit Union, Mentor, OH

6.    Commodore Perry Federal Credit Union, Oak Harbor, OH

7.    Day Air Credit Union, Kettering, OH

8.    Desco Federal Credit Union, Portsmouth, OH

9.    Faith Community United Credit Union,Cleveland, OH

10. Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union, Inc., Cleveland, OH

11. Hopewell Federal Credit Union, Heath, OH

12. MyUSA Credit Union, Middletown, OH

13. New Horizon Federal Credit Union, Barberton, OH

14. North Coast Credit Union, Fairview Park, OH

15. Nueva Esperanza Community Credit Union,Toledo, OH

16. Softite Community Federal Credit Union,Martins Ferry, OH

17. St. Joseph’s Federal Credit Union, Canton, OH

18. Telhio Credit Union, Inc., Columbus, OH

19. Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union, Toledo, OH

20. TrueCore Federal Credit Union, Newark, OH

 

###