West Sacramento, Calif. — In the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2018, Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) closed 21 loans totaling more than $8 million to support rural communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Included is a loan for a small rural community in northern California, which will be used to construct a bolted steel water tank. Another loan will support emergency housing in Hawaii that is much needed following volcanic eruptions on the Big Island of Hawaii earlier this year and also recent flooding on Kauai.

Big Rock Community Services District in Del Norte County, California, will use its more than $1 million revolving line of credit to replace a redwood tank that state officials have deemed a hazard. The district operates the water system for the rural unincorporated community of Hiouchi, where the existing 100,000-gallon redwood tank sits on a site that is eroding due to significant water run-off from a neighboring mountain. According to local officials, there is a risk to the community should a moderate earthquake hit during the winter.  The RCAC loan will serve as both interim financing for cash flow for the committed state and federal funding, and a bridge loan until the approved but unfunded monies can be secured.

A $150,000 bridge loan to Hawaiian Community Assets, Inc. (HCA) will supplement state grants in response to housing emergencies that occurred on the Big Island related to the ongoing volcanic eruptions and also recent flooding on Kauai. The nonprofit HCA is a HUD-approved housing counseling agency and community lending institution that builds the capacity of low- and moderate-income communities to achieve and sustain economic self-sufficiency with a particular focus on native Hawaiians.

Fiscal year 2018, which marked the Loan Fund’s 30th anniversary, set records for loan production.

RCAC created its Loan Fund in 1988 and was later certified as a CDFI. As of September 30, 2018, RCAC closed 1,033 loans which totaled $534,990,756 and leveraged more than $2.09 billion for projects in rural communities. These loans supported 87,604 individual water and wastewater connections for rural citizens, 14,304 housing units; 11,210,718 feet of community facility space; and created or retained 18,707 jobs. RCAC currently has 317 loans under management, totaling more than $117.3 million. Additionally, RCAC manages 55 loans totaling more than $52.3 million on behalf of other lenders and investors.

Founded in 1978, RCAC provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states and western Pacific islands. Services are available to communities with populations of fewer than 50,000, other nonprofit groups, Tribal organizations, farmworkers, colonias and other specific populations. RCAC staff provides direct services in collaboration with local and community partnerships in three program areas: affordable housing, environmental services, and lending. RCAC provides loans, including small business loans, technical and economic development assistance to rural communities and nonprofit organizations in its service region. To find out more about RCAC’s Loan Fund products, visit https://www.rcac.org/lending/.

Contact: Julia Helmreich
Director, Communications, Development & Events
(916) 447-9832 ext. 1008
jhelmreich@rcac.org