Collaboration is essential to everything we do at Fahe.
As we work to build thriving Appalachian communities, we embrace the old proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We form long-term partnerships with a variety of mission-driven organizations, funders, investors, governmental entities, and individuals who support our efforts to reverse years of disinvestment and systemic poverty in Appalachia.
If you are interested in joining our efforts to empower communities throughout our region, there are several ways you can partner with us.
Fahe connects foundations and governmental entities with our Network of more than 50 Member organizations, which are led by people who live and work in the communities they serve. Thanks to our Members’ expertise and first-hand knowledge of local needs, we are well-equipped to ensure that grants and investments create the greatest impact possible.
Fahe is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which means we provide finance to help projects, places, and people that struggle to access traditional banking and investing options. Investments in Fahe’s Community Loan Fund earn competitive returns and finance projects that transform lives, such as affordable housing, medical clinics, senior centers, and more. To date, we’ve repaid 100% of every investment we’ve ever received.
Fahe’s research team collaborates with the Members to understand the impact of their efforts to transform Appalachia. The team works with scholars of persistent poverty, CDFIs, housing and policy to aid practitioners and advocates, including through the Partners for Rural Transformation working groups, to highlight assets and opportunities for underserved places.
Our in-house team of economic development professionals partners with communities to help them access resources and manage projects such as affordable housing and infrastructure development. We are experts in packaging and administering grants from various sources, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Fahe is a founder and steering committee member of the Partners for Rural Transformation (PRT), a national coalition of high-impact, placed based organizations serving persistent poverty areas. Collectively, we serve three-quarters of the nation’s persistent poverty counties with headquarters in the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, Native American Communities, the Deep South, the Rio Grande Valley, and the Rural West.