COMMUNITY BLUEPRINTCCLF E-NEWSLETTER OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, ISSUES & FEATURES

Spring/2009

CCLF Honored With MacArthur Foundation AwardPrestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutionswill propel growth

CCLF was recently honored asone of only eight organizationsworldwide to receive theprestigious MacArthur Awardfor Creative and EffectiveInstitutions from the John D.and Catherine T. MacArthurFoundation. The awardincludes a $500,000 grant thatCCLF will use to strengthen ourbalance sheet and enhance ourgrowth, particularly in the areaof promoting sustainable buildingpractices and good design.

CCLF was chosen for this honorfor our unique ability toleverage communitydevelopment dollars on amuch larger scale than would beexpected of a mid-size loanfund. Since inception, CCLF hasclosed $36 million in communitydevelopment financing; however, our loan dollars have helped leverage anadditional $808 million in public- and private-sector financing for projectsacross the region. CCLF is committed to preserving our role as the access-to-capital safety net in the region as we provide financing and technicalassistance to a wide variety of organizations and projects. This award willalso act as a catalyst to improve CCLF's ability to promote sustainablebuilding and policy at a higher level within the community developmentindustry.

The MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions is awardedannually. The MacArthur Foundation does not seek nominations for theaward, but honors organizations which demonstrate creativity andeffectiveness; have reached a critical point in their development; haveyearly budgets of less than $5 million; have strong leadership and stable

In This Issue

MacArthur Foundation HonorsCCLF

CCLF's New Look

Welcome New Staff

Credit Memos

2009 Workshop Schedule

Sustainable Building Guide

Green Festival

Guide to Building forSustainability

Over 1000 copies of theGuide to Building for

Sustainability have beendistributed to organizationsand individuals since it was

released in October 2008. Ifyour organization would likea copy, you can request oneby calling 312-252-0440 ext.

205 or emailingkmcinerney@

cclfchicago.org. You canalso download a PDFversion of the guide at

www.cclfchicago/assistance.

financial management; and have previously received support from theMacArthur Foundation.

"Our entire organization is very humbled and excited about this award,"says CCLF Executive Director Calvin L. Holmes. "The award will provide uswith resources that will buttress our balance sheet and allow us to invest inhuman capacity, technology and processes to invigorate our lending,technical assistance and public policy activities in our ongoing efforts tohelp our customers build sustainably."

CCLF is in good company in receiving the award. Eight organizations in fivecountries are honored this year, including fellow Chicago organizationCenter for Neighborhood Technology. Recipients will be recognized at aceremony at the Chicago headquarters of the MacArthur Foundation onJune 11.

"These organizations may be small but their impact is tremendous,"said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. "From protecting human rightsto improving urban neighborhoods to conserving biodiversity, they areblazing new paths and finding fresh solutions to some of our most difficultchallenges."

CCLF's New LookNew logo and tagline enhance visual identity

CCLF is excited tointroduce our new logo andvisual identity. As a part ofour 2011 business plan,we established a primarygoal to serve Chicagolandbetter and set out to find a new look that would convey our commitmentmore effectively.

CCLF was awarded a Taproot Foundation Service Grant, and CCLFboard and staff developed the new visual identity with a team of pro bonomarketing volunteers whose expertise includes account management,copywriting, graphic design and brand strategy.

The new logo and tagline work together to articulate many attributes thatCCLF's work embodies. The image is iconic of the communities in the cityand suburbs that CCLF invests in and our commitment to sustainablebuilding, while bright and bold colors reflect our creativity, flexibility andpassion for our work.

We are committed to "helping create communities where people thrive" inmetropolitan Chicago by leveraging our investments in communitydevelopment for the greatest impact possible. Our organization remainsChicagoland-focused and dedicated to providing low-cost financing andtechnical assistance in the neighborhoods that need it most.

Thanks to board member Ed Jacob and our Taproot Foundation ServiceGrant Team for all of their creative and diligent work on this project. Tofind out more about Taproot Foundation, visit www.taprootfoundation.org.

Green Festival Chicago

The Green Festival comesto Chicago on May 16-17 at

Navy Pier. The GreenFestival features over 350local and national green

businesses andorganizations, as well as 150

speakers.

CCLF's Executive DirectorCalvin L. Holmes will

participate in a panel entitled"Socially Responsible

Investing: Wall Street andBeyond." CCLF's Senior

Loan/ Program Officer MarkFick will participate in apanel entitled "Chicago'sHousing Cooperatives:Successful Models forCollective Sustainable

Living." CCLF will also sharea table at the event withNorth Side Community

Federal Credit Union. Tofind out more, visit the Green

Festival website atwww.greenfestivals.org.

Opportunities

Join the NationalCommunity ReinvestmentCoalition in their campaignto support the Community

Reinvestment ModernizationAct of 2009 (HR 1479). Find

out how to get involved atncrc.org.

The Community EconomicDevelopment Law Project

has many upcomingworkshops for non-profit

organizations, including "Howto Write an Effective

Business Plan." Find the fullschedule at www.clccrul.org.

CCLF Welcomes New StaffLending team expands to keep up with demand

In the first quarter of 2009, CCLF has closed $2.4 million in communitydevelopment financing. This is a significant increase over last year, whenCCLF did not close any new loans in the first quarter, which is our typicalpattern as a lender that does a large amount of predevelopment financing.Further, CCLF loan closings at year-end in 2008 were up 67% fromyear-end 2007. As CCLF continues to experience a strong demand for ourlending and technical assistance, we are excited to welcome three newmembers to the CCLF lending team: photographed from left to right are N.Paul Elue, Clarice Norin, and Paul Gakhal.

N. Paul Elue joins the team asthe Senior PortfolioManagement Officer and willoversee loan monitoring,servicing and reporting.Before coming to CCLF, N.Paul worked at CommunityInvestment Corporation in thetroubled buildings initiativesgroup. He has also worked in

various capacities in engineering and marketing at Fortune 500 companies.N. Paul is also an Illinois licensed broker and certified underwriter.

Clarice Norin is a paralegal who joins CCLF's team as LoanClosing/Portfolio Officer. Prior to CCLF, Clarice worked at Chicago EquityFund and National Equity Fund. She has been working in the affordablehousing industry since 1993 and has been a paralegal for 19 years,specializing in corporate, securities and real estate law.

Paul Gakhal joins the team as Senior Loan/Program Officer. His work willfocus on city and retail/commercial lending. Paul comes to CCLF from acommercial lending background. He worked with varied loan sizes formultifamily, mixed-use, retail, office, and industrial properties at WaMu andAstoria Federal, where he successfully launched a commercial satellitebranch. He also spent the first half of his career working in strategicoperations management.

As CCLF continues to grow, we are thrilled to welcome the new staff toour team. We would like to particularly thank Polk Bros. Foundation fortheir generous support of these new positions!

CCLF NoteworthyCredit Memos: 1st Quarter 2009

Southside Preservation Properties, LLC received a $1,000,000mini-permanent mortgage to preserve 587 units in Chatham, Southshore,Auburn Gresham and Roseland. Thanks to Jared R. Feehan of Winston &Strawn LLP for serving as CCLF's counsel on this transaction.

NASCO Properties-Qumbya Cooperative received a $1,022,495mini-permanent mortgage to preserve 47 units of student cooperativehousing in Hyde Park. Thanks to Laura Swihart, Alma Rosa Montanez andDevin Swaney of Winston & Strawn LLP for serving as CCLF's counsel onthis transaction.

The National HousingConference will be holding

Solutions for WorkingFamilies: 2009 LearningConference on State andLocal Housing Policy on

June 28-30 in Chicago. Finddetails at

www.housingpolicy.org/learningconference.

The Opportunity FinanceNetwork has written a

comment letter on the U.S.Treasury CDFI Fund'sCapital Magnet Fund

Program. To sign on to thegroup letter, send yourName, Organization,City/State and EmailAddress to skerr@

opportunityfinance.net.

The Woodstock Institute,in collaboration with other

advocacy, policy, andresearch organizations,

recently released a studyrefuting the claim that CRA

aided the subprimemortgage collapse.

Download the report andmany others at

www.woodstockinst.org.

Board of Directors

Rafael M. León, ChairChicago Metropolitan Housing

Development Corporation

Susan Kaplan, Esq., Vice ChairCommunity Economic Development

Law Project

Edward J. Hoynes, CPA, TreasurerCommunity Accounting Services

John L. Tuohy, Esq. SecretaryChapman and Cutler (retired)

Charles F. DaasCambodian American Heritage

Museum

Mohammed M. ElahiAndes Capital Group, LLC

Toya Horn Howard, Esq.Real Estate Attorney

Arches Retail Development, LLC received a $400,000 predevelopmentloan for a mixed-use development in Oakwood that will include a medicalfacility and 48 units of affordable housing. Thanks to Robert Dixon ofVedder Price for serving as CCLF's counsel on this transaction.

Thank You to Funders and Investors

For their recent grants, CCLF thanks The John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation, Taproot Foundation, Bank of America Foundation,First Midwest Bank, The PrivateBank, HSBC-North America, BuildersBank and Bank Leumi USA.

For their recent investment renewals or increases, CCLF thanks Sisters ofCharity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Dubuque, IA), Our Lady of VictoryMissionary Sisters and Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago/FirstPersonal Bank.

2009 Workshop ScheduleUpcoming workshop opportunities including co-ops, projectreadiness, strategic options for developers

May 5- Project Readiness WorkshopDowntown Chicago

June 2- Strategic Options for RealEstate DevelopersRoosevelt University, Schaumburg IL

July 18- Housing CooperativesSophia Community (Hyde Park)

October 19-20- Building forSustainabilityChicago Center for Green Technology

December 8- Project ReadinessWorkshopDowntown Chicago

For more information about CCLF's workshops or to register, please call312-252-0440 ext. 205 or email kmcinerney@cclfchicago.org. You can alsofind a registration form and more information atwww.cclfchicago.org/assistance.

Ed JacobNorth Side Community Federal Credit

Union

Glenn M. MazadeCharter One Bank

Patricia Y. McCrearySeaway National Bank

Raymond S. McGaugh, Esq.Finance Attorney

Kay McNab, Esq.Winston & Strawn

Richard Peabody, Jr.Chase Bank

Nancy Radner, Esq.Chicago Alliance to End

Homelessness

Matthew R. ReileinJPMorgan Chase & Co.

Maria SaldañaDuncan-Williams, Inc.

Kathryn TholinCenter for Neighborhood Technology

Staff

Calvin L. HolmesExecutive Director

Jane I. AmesDirector of Finance & Administration

Rhonda McFarlandDirector of Lending

Mark FickSenior Loan/Program Officer

Paul GakhalSenior Loan/Program Officer

N. Paul ElueSenior Portfolio Management Officer

Clarice NorinLoan Closing/Portfolio Officer

Juanita WalkerOfficer Manager

Emily MoenExternal Relations Associate

Angela BennettFinance & Administration Associate

Kate McInerneyLVC Program Assistant

America LewisReceptionist

Credits

Editor/Layout Emily MoenPhotography tonyvmartin.com

Printer Salsedo Press

Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) | 29 East Madison St, Suite 1700 | Chicago | IL | 60602