Partners for Rural Transformation is a coalition of six Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that serve three-quarters of the country’s persistent poverty counties, communities that are overwhelming rural and people of color. With headquarters in the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, Native American communities, the Deep South, the Rio Grande Valley and regions in the Rural West, the Partners for Rural Transformation has a unique lens on the range of challenges these communities face, solutions to them, and deep connections with diverse local leaders who are dedicated to creating change.
The recommendations included here are rooted in decades of experience, which includes deploying over $2 billion, reaching millions of people who reside in persistent poverty communities.
Members of the Partners for Rural Transformation are lenders and participants in numerous federal initiative such as, but not limited to those run by the Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Treasury, Federal Housing Finance Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, CDFI Fund, and U.S. Department of Agricultural, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
In these comments, Partners for Rural Transformations provides responsive comments regarding:
· Equity Assessments and Strategies
· Barrier and Burden Reduction
· Financial Assistance
· Stakeholder and Community Engagement
For more information, contact Jose Quinonez, PRT Director, at jose@pfrt.org or visit www.ruraltransformation.org