The federal government today awarded the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) $4.8 million from the Treasury Department's Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). LISC will leverage the grant to raise $96 million in private capital for affordable housing and economic development projects in deeply distressed communities across the country.

LISC received one of the largest of CMF's $91.5 million in grants, announced today by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), which is part of the Treasury Department. The grants will help 32 organizations attract $900 million in loans and investments for projects that help struggling populations.

This is LISC's second CMF award. The first, in 2010, helped finance 600 units of housing for low-income families and 75,000 square feet of community space.

The new grant builds on that and will finance supportive housing, especially for seniors, the disabled and veterans; focus on "high-housing need" rural and urban communities; and fund economic development projects in markets where businesses are hard-pressed to get financing from traditional sources

"The capital markets may be rebounding but there are still overwhelming needs," said Elise Balboni, LISC's senior vice president for policy. "What makes this fund so valuable is that it will help preserve and expand the housing stock available to extremely low-income people—something that is increasingly short supply all across the country."

For more on the CDFI Fund's new CMF grants, visit: www.cdfifund.gov.

About LISC

LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has invested $16 billion to build or rehab 348,000 affordable homes and apartments and develop 56 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. For more, visit www.lisc.org.