GENESIS FUND

We make projects happen that otherwise wouldn’t, with people and places that are being left behind and left out of the economic mainstream. Specifically, we strive to:

• Ensure a safety net for those who are in crisis – people who are experiencing homelessness, substance use disorder, domestic violence, food insecurity, and poor access to healthcare;
• Provide supportive housing for people with persistent mental illness or intellectual, developmental, or physical disabilities that require ongoing supportive services;
• Increase the supply of affordable and high-quality homes, childcare centers, healthcare facilities, and other infrastructure that supports healthy and just communities;
• Create opportunities to build wealth, power, and control for people and communities who have been historically disadvantaged and overlooked, including very rural, and BIPOC communities; and
• Build vibrant, resilient, equitable communities – both rural and urban – where people can thrive.

OUR PRIORITIES: 2023-2025

Deploy Capital to Fill Market Gaps and Deliver High-Impact Technical Assistance
GOALS:
• Meet urgent needs for housing, shelter, childcare, food security and social services, and provide access to opportunities to build wealth and assets for people and communities that have been left behind.
• Maintain a diverse portfolio of borrowers that balances risk and effort, and produces a range of desired impacts.
• Maintain a mix of TA clients that balances effort with desired impacts, and focuses on projects that wouldn’t otherwise happen, as well as those best suited for our expertise.
• Bring increased attention to reducing climate change impacts on historically marginalized communities and increasing climate resilience through the built environment.

Deepen our Commitment to Racial Equity and Support of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Communities
GOALS:
• Build cultural competence and understanding of racial inequity with our staff and board.
• Build new and deepened relationships in BIPOC communities.
• Leverage our platform to promote equity and systemic changes that increase prosperity in BIPOC and other historically disadvantaged communities.

Use our Position and Platform to Shape Public Policy and Programs to Benefit People and Communities that have been Left Behind
GOALS:
• Promote legislative policy solutions that increase resources to create more affordable housing and community development projects, especially in rural, historically disadvantaged and low-income communities.
• Work with state and federal partners to create new resources and programs, improve systems, and remove barriers to make existing resources more usable.
• Invest in our strategic communications to increase the visibility of our work and the projects we finance and support, and to promote innovative models and solutions.

The Genesis Fund meets its mission through:

LENDING
Our borrowers include grassroots and community-based organizations, nonprofits, public housing authorities and mission-driven private developers, many of whom have limited or no access to traditional financing or look to the Genesis Fund to fill financing gaps or bridge between other funders. Our loans may be used for predevelopment, acquisition, construction, permanent financing, and working capital.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TA)
The Genesis Fund provides low- or no-cost professional assistance – including feasibility assessments, fund and project development, and development consulting – to organizations advancing housing and community facility projects in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to ensure their long-term success.

INFLUENCE POLICIES AND PROGRAMS
To deepen our impact, we leverage our experience to work for policy solutions and program improvements that increase the flow of capital to produce greater equity and prosperity. We use our on-the-ground knowledge of project development to bring information on policy, resource gaps, and roadblocks to decision-makers, and to advocate for promising policies and resources. We use our platform to elevate the success stories of our community partners and highlight promising models of community development.

CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO INVEST IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
We provide an investment opportunity that allows individuals and institutions to direct their resources toward addressing the hardships and challenges that they observe and experience in their communities. Our investment program is accessible and simple. It is open to anyone and offers a low minimum investment amount at a variety of term options. This simplicity makes it easy for people to become partners in our work, and enables us to be flexible and responsive to the needs of our borrowers.

The Genesis Fund has an experienced and dedicated staff, ready to assist and support community organizations, local nonprofits and developers of all shapes and sizes in order to carry out its mission. Our Executive Director has been with the organization for over 17 years, during a period of significant growth where our impact has spread across Maine and New Hampshire and our Total Assets increased from just a few million to over $38M. Our lending and technical assistance programs are carried out by a dedicated and effective team of seasoned professionals, who collectively share several decades of community development experience.

Our work is overseen by a board of directors that is representative of our stakeholder groups and the organizations we serve, and assist us in ensuring that our work is smart, effective, and impactful. In addition, we maintain productive and collaborative working relationships with several state, regional and nationwide mission partners, including the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, Maine State Housing, Maine Department of Economic Development, USDA Rural Development, Opportunity Finance Network, the CDFI Coalition, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the National Disability Finance Coalition. In 2022, our Executive Director was selected as one of two Maine representatives to serve on the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's 14-person Advisory Council.

Since 1992, the Genesis Fund has loaned over $80M to more than 318 projects and leveraged $528M in additional investment in local community development. In our most recent fiscal year (2022), our lending benefited 5,266 individuals in Maine and New Hampshire through investment in projects that created or preserved 677 units of housing, 210 child care/education slots, and expanded food pantry access for over 2,700 people.

In addition, over 30 years we have provided over 26,700 hours of low- or no-cost technical assistance to 386 projects. In FY22, we provided 1,369 hours of Technical Assistance to 28 nonprofit organizations who served over 1,800 people.