Impact Seven, a CDFI based in Almena, Wis., has been named the recipient of the 2014 NEXT Seed Capital Award for its strategy to preserve affordable housing in rural Wisconsin. The $100,000 award, which is presented by Opportunity Finance Network and funded by Wells Fargo, is part of a ten-year initiative to recognize CDFIs that have promising ideas for expanding their services in low-income communities. (For more on CDFIs, see the “CDFI Fund news” item in this issue.) The NEXT award program began in 2007 and will continue through 2016.
Impact Seven was recognized for a program that involves buyers and sellers in preserving small, multi-family rentals in economically distressed rural areas of northwestern Wisconsin. The housing in question was originally financed through USDA Rural Development’s Section 515 Loan Program and carries preservation incentives that are set to expire. Impact Seven will use the award money to rehabilitate 120 housing units over the next two years.
