Where: Somerton, Yuma County, Arizona

Issue: Low-income communities and seniors lack financial resources to make necessary repairs to their homes

Outcome: Rural Community Assistance Corporation’s (RCAC) Loan Fund provided Campesinos Sin Fronteras a $50,000 line of credit to assist with cash flow as it operates a self-help housing rehabilitation program

Campesinos Sin Fronteras (CSF) is a nonprofit organization that serves migrant and seasonal farm workers and low-income community members in Yuma County, Arizona. Farmworkers often work seven days a week but do not have sufficient incomes to meet their needs, including critical housing repair. CSF runs is a self-help housing rehabilitation program that provides low and zero interest loans to low-income homeowners and seniors to make repairs to their homes. CSF receives funding for the program through the Arizona Department of Housing.

The organization has served more than 5,000 families and has extensive experience with rehabilitation and repair projects. However, the self-help rehabilitation program operates on a reimbursement system, through which CSF must submit paid invoices and then receive reimbursement, leading to cash flow problems.

RCAC’s Loan Fund provided a $50,000 line of credit to enable CSF to make timely payments to contractors. In addition, CSF can now complete an entire repair project before needing to submit its reimbursement requests.