What it means to be a CDFI

Community Development Financial Institutions - or CDFIs - are mission-driven financial institutions that are dedicated to providing financial services to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged individuals within under served communities. CDFIs invest in local communities and the residents who live there by providing critically needed financing often unavailable from mainstream financial institutions.

CDFIs are certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution Fund - known as the CDFI fund. In order to become a CDFI, the financial institution must: have a primary mission of promoting community development; provide financial products and services; serve one or more defined low-income target markets; maintain accountability to the communities it serves; and be a legal non-governmental entity.

As a CDFI, Spruce Root puts the community first and values local, economic growth.