Recent federal, state, and local initiatives have created grant programs designed to provide public services and stimulate local economies. Many of these programs align with New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s mission and provide a direct benefit to the people we serve. 

We also have the internal infrastructure, network, and expertise to manage and distribute these funds efficiently and in a way that maximizes their intended benefits. 

Administering public funds allows us to bring new opportunities to our communities and continue offering lower-interest loans to our borrowers. It expands our impact in existing programs such as supporting resident-owned communities (ROCs), and fund new projects that diversify our 40-year commitment to local economies and social health determinants.

Receiving public grants doesn’t improve our bottom line because this capital isn’t applied to our general funds. Grant money is known as “pass-through funding” because that’s just what it does; it passes through our organization before being dispersed directly to the specific projects and people it’s meat for. We apply just a small percentage of the total award to the administrative costs of managing the grant and its projects, but these costs often exceed that amount.

So when you hear that we’ve received a large federal grant, it doesn’t mean that we no longer need donations and investments from our traditional supporters. We’re excited to expand our impact by putting these resources to work in our communities, and we often incur more expense to do so.

Which means your support is needed more than ever.

The impact of these pass-through funds is tremendous. Over recent years, we’ve administered nearly $200 million to help Granite Staters with energy savings, weatherization, low-cost lending, sustainable food systems, and business growth.

We continue to actively pursue state and federal dollars to help N.H. homeowners, ROCs, businesses, nonprofits, and communities reduce energy costs and create economic revitalization.   

Read on to learn how we’re leveraging government programs to help.

Energy Savings

We’re actively pursuing state and federal dollars to help New Hampshire’s homeowners, resident cooperatives, businesses, nonprofits, and communities reduce their energy costs and create economic revitalization.

Funds will be used to create mission-focused products and programs for individuals and communities that have been historically left behind, including weatherization and solar initiatives. 

We’ve aligned ourselves to be recipients or subrecipients of the following programs. 

Solar For All 

In 2024 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded New Hampshire $43 million to help households and communities with low incomes deploy and benefit from residential solar projects. A portion of these funds will be used to help ROCs install community solar arrays to reduce their energy bills. Existing community solar arrays at ROCs are reducing household energy bills by as much as $20 each month.

Weatherization Assistance Program

In 2024 we were selected to receive a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to provide a deep energy retrofit, including weatherization and solar arrays, for a ROC in Coos County. This project will demonstrate the importance of low- to moderate-income families in achieving the full benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice. 

National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF)

CIF established three national clean financing institutions that deliver accessible and affordable financing for clean technology projects nationwide. It makes benefits such as energy savings, cleaner air, and job opportunities accessible to millions of Americans.

Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA)

This program will provide funding to community lenders working in low-income and disadvantaged communities. Dollars will go towards distributed energy, net-zero buildings, and zero-emissions transportation projects.    

ROC Infrastructure 

The Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) Act authorized $235 million in grant funding to help communities maintain, protect, and stabilize manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities. We are applying for $75 million that will be used to improve the water, sewer, and electrical infrastructure at ROCs across the state. In addition to these health and safety improvements, funds could be used to create pads for new homes and to help residents purchase their parks.

Low-cost Lending Capital

The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) invests federal dollars alongside private sector capital to generate economic growth and opportunity in some of the nation’s most distressed communities. We’ve received several awards from the fund, which we use to offer fair, mission-focused loans across all our programs. 

Systematically Excluded Entrepreneurs

In 2023, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded over $1.73 billion in grants to 604 CDFIs across the country through its Equitable Recovery Program (CDFI ERP). These grants were designed to strengthen the ability of CDFIs to help low- and moderate-income communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and invest in long-term prosperity. Funds we received from the program are being used to provide loans and grants to black, brown, and indigenous entrepreneurs.

Sustainable Food Systems

Strengthening local food systems, from farm to consumer, has long been vital to our mission. That’s why we responded in 2023 when the USDA asked us to administer $187 million in grants to support the country’s meat and poultry processors, allowing them to expand operations, transform the food supply chain, and create new and better markets for producers.

Our involvement in the following programs will strengthen the food supply chain in New Hampshire and across the country, while adding to the state’s financial strength and sustainability.

Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP)

MPPEP enables independent businesses to build and modernize processing facilities and equipment, adopt new technologies, and train workers.

Local Meat Capacity (Local MCap)

This program funds innovative projects designed to build resilience in the meat and poultry supply chain by providing producers with more local processing options and strengthening their market potential.