Fahe at OFN40
Fahe staff and Members joined 2,500 community development finance industry (CDFI) practitioners and partners at the Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN) 40th anniversary conference themed “Made By History. Made for This Moment.” in Los Angeles, CA in late October. CDFIs expand economic opportunity in underserved communities across the nation.
In addition to being a network of Members serving central Appalachia Fahe is a non-depository CDFI, lending to underserved communities in our footprint.
We are proud to be a longstanding member of OFN, which serves CDFIs across the nation.
The event provided a fresh perspective on our current moment as we celebrated four decades of growth and impact in the CDFI industry. Honored guests and powerful videos captured the purpose and the founding of this field. New leaders and new voices throughout the four-day event provided inspiration and excitement for what is to come next.
A few highlights of how Fahe staff and Members participated:
In the Centering Community in Measuring Outcomes session Fahe’s VP of Research Katy Stigers contributed her perspective on how data provides agency to a community. “When Southeast Kentucky was washed away by huge flooding, the ability of Members in our network to describe and define the challenges they faced with data really centered them in the policy and recovery process,” said Katy Stigers. “They could describe the kind of houses they needed, the redevelopment process that would work best, and advocate for themselves, including talking about the health impacts they were experiencing.”
Partners for Rural Transformation’s (PRT) Senior Manager of Communications and Partnerships Essence Smith was a panelist on the Digital Marketing for CDFIs session. She spoke about her experience driving reach, engagement, and conversion as key performance indicators for the outreach she conducts on behalf of PRT.
Fahe’s Senior Vice President of Advocacy, Maggie Riden was a panelist in the Rural Change Makers Use the Power of Advocacy for Transformation session, providing insights from Fahe’s recent case study regarding Fahe’s successful efforts in rural communities to influence policy change. She talked about two dynamic advocacy campaigns: the creation of a Rural Housing Trust Fund (RHTF) in Kentucky with an originating $20 million allocation, and an investment of between $10-14 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars in Tennessee for housing working families can afford.
JustChoice Lending’s Senior Vice President for Single Family Lending Janel Lawson was a panelist in Looking for Liquidity in All the Right Places. Lawson highlighted a new mortgage product for low-wealth buyers, Inspire100. To ensure liquidity and scalability, the model includes a $50MM secondary market supported by Self-Help and Fahe, which buy these mortgages from the originating CDFI.
Redbud Financial Alternatives‘ (created by Fahe Member, Housing Development Alliance) Managing Director James Caudill was a panelist on From Desert to Oasis; Transforming Credit Insecure Communities with Consumer Lending. Redbud focuses exclusively on consumer lending and provides equitable, fair loans in Eastern Kentucky.
President and CEO Tom Manning-Beavin of Frontier Housing, and Director of Lending Operations Kip Parks and CEO Sherry Trent of Eastern Eight Community Development Corp staff were also in attendance.
Driving Fahe awareness and support
Throughout the event, Fahe President Sara Morgan met with philanthropic and investor partners to provide updates about Fahe’s Housing Challenge as well as our continuing work in disaster recovery, community lending, loan servicing, direct and packaged mortgage solutions, and much more.
VP of Investments Chad McPherson spoke to investors about the new capital Fahe is seeking to relend to meet our pipeline of loans for this year, including a medical clinic and more units of housing for underserved rural regions.
Fahe’s Relationship Manager for Native CDFIs Susan Hammond attended the Native Gathering to advance our work to help Native CDFIs access the secondary mortgage market. JustChoice Lending’s SVP for Single Family Lending Janel Lawson and JustChoice Lending Compliance Specialist Misty Brewer met with some of the Native groups that have joined Fahe’s Broker network and promoted a mortgage product tailored to Native communities called HeritageOne, in partnership with Freddie Mac.
Fahe’s Chief Communications Officer Lina Page met with various CDFI leaders and supporters to lay the groundwork for a new narrative campaign about our work in central Appalachia. Altogether, the Fahe team strengthened our relationships with industry leaders, including OFN President and CEO, Harold Pettigrew.
Fahe is ready to keep making history as part of the CDFI industry.
