AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 14, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and Rio Grande Valley Multibank of Brownsville, Texas are pleased to announce they have awarded $20,000 grants through the Partnership Grant Program (PGP) to each of two Austin, Texas, nonprofits.
Representatives from FHLB Dallas and Rio Grande Valley Multibank held a check presentation yesterday for the Texas Association of Community Development Corporations (TACDC) and Texas Community Capital (TCC).
TACDC provides training, advocacy, research, event planning, membership services, and grassroots organization for nonprofit affordable housing and community economic development providers in Texas.
TCC is a lending intermediary providing loan products and development services to Texas community development corporations, Community Development Financial Institutions, and other community development organizations.
Both entities will use the grants to build organizational staffing and for occupancy expenses, said Matt Hull, executive director of TACDC and co-administrator of TCC.
"The partnership grant is great because it is unrestricted money that allows the grant recipient to pay for the administrative costs that are really hard to raise money for otherwise," Mr. Hull said. "There are not a lot of resources for organizational and operating expenses. The PGP allows us to use the grant to pay for expenses such as occupancy or our year-end accounting that other funders are not willing to include in their program funding. Some funders only want their funds used for direct services or programs and limit what can be spent on administrative functions. What makes the PGP great is that it is flexible and can be used to cover general operating expenses."
Mr. Hull learned of the PGP through conversations with Greg Hettrick, FHLB Dallas' director of community investment.
"Through meetings with FHLB Dallas, and training sessions we've held that Greg and his staff have participated in, they have always mentioned the PGP. So we finally applied for it last year and we were awarded a grant. We applied again this year and we were fortunate enough to be selected again."
Through the PGP, FHLB Dallas awards partnership grants through its member institutions to provide funding for the operational needs of community-based organizations involved in affordable housing and community development. FHLB Dallas matches a member's cash contribution to a community-based organization of $500 up to $5,000 at a 3:1 ratio. Through its member institutions, FHLB Dallas awarded $225,000 in partnership grants in 2013.
"FHLB Dallas recognizes the importance of flexible funding opportunities for small, community-based organizations," said Bre Chapman, senior vice president and director of corporate communications and external affairs at FHLB Dallas. "We're pleased to partner with Rio Grande Valley Multibank in awarding $40,000 to local organizations."
Mr. Hull said the PGP also allows community-based organizations to build deeper relationships with the financial institutions in their community, such as Rio Grande Valley Multibank.
"We were so thrilled that we actually pulled this off two years in a row," said Nick Mitchell, administrator for Rio Grande Valley Multibank, of receiving the PGP match for the two organizations two years in a row. "It's well worth the investment on the Rio Grande Valley Multibank side to be involved in the statewide effort to further community development. Both TACDC and TCC have done some real groundbreaking work in the last few years to partner with community development organizations around the state, as well as to create new and innovative programs for the less fortunate in the state. It's an honor to be able to provide these grant funds."
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 12 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $31.3 billion as of September 30, 2013, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 900 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas.