The San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund was awarded a $500,000 grant earlier this month by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund of the US Treasury.

The grant funds will be used to provide financing for affordable housing projects in San Luis Obispo County. This was the Housing Trust Fund’s second award from the CDFI Fund.

"We are ecstatic about the CDFI Fund award," states Jerry Rioux, the Housing Trust Fund’s executive director. "With the receipt of this grant, we will have nearly $3 million available to finance affordable housing projects in San Luis Obispo County."

The CDFI Fund provides capital for under-served communities throughout the nation to stimulate local economic development. 

The CDFI Fund received 408 applications requesting more than $467 million in funding under the FY 2010 round of the CDFI Program. The Housing Trust Fund’s award was one of 180 grants totaling $104.9 million that were announced on Aug. 19. 

Since its inception, the CDFI Fund has awarded over $926 million through the CDFI Program. More information on the CDFI Fund and the recent grants is available at www.cdfifund.gov. 

The Housing Trust Fund is a nonprofit corporation that was created in 2003 to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout San Luis Obispo County.

Rather than directly develop or own housing, the Housing Trust Fund provides financing and technical assistance to help private developers, nonprofit agencies and local governments produce and preserve housing that working families, seniors on fixed incomes and persons with disabilities can afford to rent or buy.  

Since making its first loan in 2005, the Housing Trust Fund has provided or committed more than $6 million in financing to help create or preserve 216 units of affordable housing.

Additional information on the Housing Trust Fund is available online at www.slochtf.org.