Community First Guam Federal Credit Union was recently re-certified as a Community Development Financial Instruction (CDFI) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury CDFI Fund. CDFIs are mission-driven financial institutions that are dedicated to providing financial services to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged individuals within underserved communities.
Community First joins over 1,400 CDFIs throughout the United States and its territories.
“We are excited with this news and proud to be Guam's only financial institution designated as a CDFI. This certification process was completely different from those past. We suspect it was to ensure that our mission aligned with that of the CDFI fund,” said Gerard Cruz, President and CEO of Community First.
“The CDFI certification supports our mission, which in part is to ‘support initiatives that target and uplift the underserved constituents of our community.’ Certification will allow us to access programs that help families achieve homeownership. The affordable housing problem on Guam is not sustainable. While there are many components that can be worked on to bring down or alleviate the cost of ownership, ultimately the issue will come back to access to capital. We are honored to do our part in addressing this problem.”
About CDFI Fund: The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, or CDFI Fund, was established by the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994. The CDFI Fund’s purpose is to promote economic revitalization and community development in low-income communities through investment in and assistance to CDFIs. For more information about the CDFI Fund, visit www.cdfifund.gov.