Children’s Investment Fund

STATEWIDE

The Life Initiative invests strategically in intermediary lenders whose mission parallels that of TLI, and whose lending fills critical gaps in the development finance industry.

Two of TLI’s earliest intermediary investments were to support the activities of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) and its affiliate, The Children’s Investment Fund (CIF). CEDAC is a quasi-public entity, which has for thirty years provided extremely high risk capital to nonprofit developers of affordable housing across Massachusetts. CEDAC lends developers non-recourse capital to meet their early pre-development capital needs. TLI’s investment in CEDAC augments other sources of capital and enables CEDAC to increase its acquisition and predevelopment loan activity. The TLI investment has helped create or preserve over 1,778 units of housing.

The provision of high-quality childcare centers, affordable to low and moderate income families, is key to strong communities. In 1999, TLI recognized that CIF was able to underwrite the loans and grants that make it possible for childcare centers to expand their facilities. CIF also has the unique ability to provide technical assistance to childcare providers. This assistance helps providers become more financially stable and gives them the skills to fully participate in the design and construction of new space that works well for the children. TLI’s investment in CIF has helped support 945 new childcare slots across the state.