2014 Awardees

Rural Community Assistance Corporation
NEXT Opportunity Award $2MM Awardee

Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) is tackling the affordable housing crisis in the rural western U.S., an area many others have left behind. As the primary CDFI working in the rural west, it is witness to the effects dwindling government resources and geographic isolation have on low-income communities. People are often desperate for economic opportunities and safe, affordable places to live, but local organizations lack the resources to cultivate growing and thriving communities.

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New Jersey Community Capital
NEXT Opportunity Award $2.25MM Awardee

After a decade-long foreclosure crisis, the U.S. housing recovery is finally underway. However, in places like New Jersey—which now leads the nation in foreclosures—many low- and moderate-income communities continue to struggle with family displacement and housing abandonment. New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC), a CDFI that’s worked to transform the state’s most underserved urban areas for nearly 30 years, has developed a unique approach to tackling this crisis.

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Florida Community Loan Fund
NEXT Opportunity Award $4MM Awardee

For low-income Floridians, finding a safe, affordable place to rent is almost impossible. Between 2008 and 2012, Florida lost 14,612 affordable housing units. Florida Community Loan Fund (FCLF) seeks to reverse that trend with its Florida Preservation Fund.

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Impact Seven
NEXT Seed Capital Award $100,000 Awardee

Impact Seven, an Almena, WI-based CDFI, received this year’s $100,000 NEXT Seed Capital Award for its strategy to preserve affordable housing for very low-income individuals and families in rural Wisconsin.

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