Message from the CEO
When a plan comes together that creates opportunities for underserved people and communities to get a whole lot more out of life, it’s a good time to give thanks, and double down to scale and sustain it.
And that’s exactly what NCB Capital Impact did in 2011, thanks to critical resources and numerous partnerships committed to help people from low-income communities attain better access to affordable health care, healthy foods, education, housing and more dignified and respectful elder care. Specifically, we collaborated to:
- Assemble and deliver $153.4 million in capital
- Create and widely share new concepts, principles, best practices, tools and resources
- Deploy $36 million in impact investments, and $10.9 million in grants funds
Two key drivers brought the plan home, and set the stage for continued scale and sustainability: a whole lot of
cooperation and a whole lot of
innovating.
Cooperation is more than a value at Capital Impact; it is our core. Rooted in a cooperative approach, our ability to scale and sustain investment stems from our diverse network of alliances that spans foundations, investment banks and government agencies, as well as our peers and organizations in the communities we serve. A few highlights from joint initiatives in 2011 are:
- In July, First Lady Michelle Obama announced an innovative healthy food financing initiative – the California FreshWorks Fund. A project of The California Endowment and an all-star team of partners, FreshWorks is a $264 million public-private partnership loan fund created to increase access to healthy, affordable food in underserved California communities, spur economic development and inspire innovation in healthy food retailing.
- The Living Cities Senior Facility and Living Cities Catalyst Fund brought together a large group of institutional investors that previously worked independently. This initiative has harnessed the power of both this collaborative and the community, resulting in cooperation among the public, private, philanthropic and non-profit sectors to create more opportunity for low-income residents in the Woodward Corridor. Capital Impact was the first intermediaries to use the funds to help revitalize midtown Detroit.
- MetLife Foundation and The Archstone Foundation awarded grants to help Capital Impact, together with our partner Beacon Hill Village, expand and strengthen the Villages. In 2011, the Village to Village Network grew to 178 member Villages in 36 states, making it possible for thousands more older adults to age in place with maximum independence and dignity.
Innovation takes center stage at Capital Impact. For us, new concepts and approaches to complex social issues must reach wide across America, and far into the future. This was highly evident in 2011:
- The Corporation for Community and National Service’s Social Innovation Fund awarded $5 million for Capital Impact to advance the work of its Cornerstone Partnership Initiative, a 600+ peer network for homeownership programs. These programs transform the way local, state and federal agencies invest scarce public funds to support homeownership for lower income families to preserve public investment, thus increasing the number of families served without additional public investment.
- In addition, the Cornerstone Partnership developed and launched HomeKeeper, a new software program that facilitates day-to-day program management workflow and allows consistent tracking of key social impacts. This platform is now freely available for members to save time, protect data and provide greater insights, helping more hard–working people buy homes, maintain those homes and keep them affordable in the future.
- Together with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we launched a 10‐year, $10 million low‐interest impact investment to finance the building of Green House® homes, thus expanding innovative skilled-nursing care to low-income seniors.
- The Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards from Opportunity Finance Network named Capital Impact as a finalist in this highly competitive award for innovation by Community Development Finance Institutions, recognizing our work in creating the Green House Financing Fund to expand the benefits of this long-term care model to more low-income elders across the nation.
Impact is why we do it. In 2011, cooperation and innovation to help people get the most from life yielded:
- $66.9 million for community health centers that provide 1,040,332 patient visits annually
- $91.9 million for high-quality charter school facilities creating 8,591 more opportunities for families to choose the school for their child
- 120 GREEN HOUSE® Homes operating on 43 campuses in 27 states so that elders can age with maximum dignity and live full lives
- 178 Village to Village Network members in 36 states exchanging tools, resources and best practices so older Americans can remain in their homes and connected to their communities as they age
- $4.2 million for 196 units of multifamily homeownership or other affordable housing
- 608 Cornerstone Partnership members from 150 organizations collaborating to preserve affordable homes and scarce public resources
- $3.2 million for other community development enterprises
- 2,265 jobs for low-income individuals
Financial strength allows us to keep making it happen:
For the fifth consecutive year,
CARS™ awarded Capital Impact their highest financial and impact performance rating of “1” for Financial Strength and Performance; the highest rating of “AAA” for Impact Performance; and a Policy Plus for leadership in policy changes impacting disadvantaged people and communities.
All of these successes point to the truth we instinctually know: cooperation and innovation work. Not only in the programs we deliver, but in the communities we serve. This is why they will continue to drive our efforts and create development that is sustainable and far-reaching. Count on it.
Terry Simonette
President & CEO
NCB Capital Impact
