NEW ORLEANS – ASI FCU was awarded a $3 million grant Friday from the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions new program to help provide the low-income neighborhoods of New Orleans with access to affordable and nutritious food alternatives to junk food.
The CDFI’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative is an interagency program involving the Treasury, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services representing the federal government’s first coordinated step to eliminate junk food deserts by promoting a wide range of healthy alternatives. The grants are supposed to be used to help increase the distribution of agricultural products; develop and equip grocery stores; and strengthen producer-to-consumer relationships.
The $300 million credit union will use the grant to start a revolving loan fund lending to projects that strengthen healthy food distribution in low-income areas of New Orleans. “We have already had several conversations with grocers and restaurateurs in the Bywater and Marigny neighborhoods of the Ninth Ward who need financing to start or expand their businesses,” said Sarah Taylor, senior vice president at ASI. “These monies from the CDFI Fund will help us make a real impact in those communities, creating new jobs and providing healthy and affordable food alternatives.”
The ASI grant was one of 12 for a total of $25 million awarded under the program. Other funding went to Appalachian Community Enterprises in Cleveland; Lowcountry Housing Trust in Charleston, S.C.; Low Income Investment Fund in San Francisco and Opportunity Finance Network in Philadelphia.
