Mercy Loan Fund/ Mercy Housing, Inc.
Vision / Mission
Mercy Loan Fund (MLF), along with its parent organization Mercy Housing, Inc. (MHI), works to create a more humane world where poverty is alleviated, communities are healthy and all people can develop their full potential.
MLF provides capital to community-based affordable housing developers with financing needs that are unmet through traditional financial institutions. MLF’s loans are used to develop, finance and operate affordable, program-enriched housing for families, seniors and people with special needs who lack the economic resources to access quality, safe, housing opportunities.
History
In 1981, the Sisters of Mercy of Omaha found that a lack of adequate housing was the root cause of many of the health and education problems they saw in their community. With an initial investment of $500,000, they founded MHI in Nebraska.
The Sisters began by acquiring properties that were at risk of being sold at market rate. They renovated the properties and leased them to low-income people. The Sisters realized that they wanted to provide services and programs that would help residents stabilize their lives and thrive in the community.
MLF was founded in 1985 to provide financing for non-profit organizations, enabling them to develop affordable housing in their communities. MLF finances the development of single- and multi-family homes for rental and homeownership.
Programs / Impact
MHI, with support from MLF, has developed more than 19,100 affordable homes, both rental and single family, serving more than 58,000 people in 31 states, on any given day. An additional 8,153 homes are in the pre-development, construction or concept phase.
MHI employs over 1,160 people nationwide providing property management and on-site resident programs including computer centers, arts programs, health classes, financial education programs, employment initiatives and homeownership seminars that are funded through grants and donations.
MLF loans have ranged from $25,000 to $2.1 million, with an average term of 3.5 years. Some examples include:
- Lines of credit to affordable homeownership programs, used to purchase and rehabilitate single-family homes for sale;
- A predevelopment loan to assist with acquisition and rehabilitation of a single-room occupancy apartment building for people who are single, disabled or living with HIV/AIDS;
- A gap loan to a residents’ cooperative to purchase a 150-space mobile home park for seniors; and,
- A loan to help a tenants’ association purchase and convert a 15-unit rental property into a cooperative.
Client Population
The median annual income of families at MHI is $18,892. The median annual income of seniors is $12,106; and the median income of special needs residents is $9,167. All residents have household incomes below 80 percent area median income.
Seventy-eight percent of residents are families, 14 percent are seniors, 8 percent are people with special needs, including people with HIV/AIDS, formerly homeless, and people with physical and mental impairments. Currently, 58 percent of those served by MLF’s loans are ethnic minorities and 61 percent are female
Investing with MLF
On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”) made its first investment with MLF in 1990. Trillium, at a client’s request, will make investments in MLF of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years.
MLF is a registered with the Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution and is a member of Opportunity Finance Network.