Dear Shareholders and Friends:
Serving low-and-moderate income communities with Purpose. That is something Clearinghouse CDFI has done for over 25 years. In 2022, we continued our tradition of steady, strong, and purposeful growth and community impact while laying the framework for future economic and geographic expansion to underserved markets and communities.
We originated 45 loans totaling $182 million while navigating unprecedented economic uncertainty in an environment of rapidly rising interest rates. 65 percent of the projects financed in 2022 were in low-income census tracts. 40 percent of our loans directly benefited minority populations or minority-owned or controlled entities.
Affordable housing finance remains a core focus for our company. In 2022, we developed, rehabilitated, or preserved 1,580 housing units. Of those, 81 percent were affordable to low-income families. We launched a focused effort to finance mobile home parks to support entry level-housing throughout the country. Additionally, we sought to meaningfully address growing homeless population through projects like the Kean Hotel in San Francisco.
Our commitment to education and youth was significant in 2022. Port View Preparatory, a school for special needs children in Tustin, California, received a $19 million loan from Clearinghouse CDFI. This will allow Port View to expand enrollment and serve thousands of additional students in future years.
We doubled the size of the Allen Peters Baldwin ‘B’ BOLD™ Internship program in 2022 by increasing the number of low-income, high school and college student interns. For the first time, we offered paid internships with our bank partners, providing students with valuable experience and insight into careers in banking and finance.
Clearinghouse CDFI remains nationally engaged with Native CDFIs and opportunities that support Native American projects and initiatives.
FVLCRUM Fund continued with capitalization and made its first investments in 2022. Four minority-owned businesses received equity capital investments and are positioned for strong future growth and impact. Highlighting this activity is our investment in the largest black-owned crane company in the United States located in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Barings (Mass Mutual, Brighthouse Financial, Lincoln Financial Group) provided Clearinghouse CDFI with a $50 million term loan in 2022, one of our largest debt facilities ever. This insurance company’s facility allows us to further the reach of our financing products to help underserved families and communities throughout the United States.
In 2022, B Lab recognized Clearinghouse CDFI as Best for the World for the 5th consecutive year. We recorded our 23rd consecutive year of profitability with after-tax earnings of $7.5 million. Total assets in 2022 increased to $639 million at year end. We started the process of recapitalizing the corporation by retiring our Class B shares.
The strong support of our shareholders and stakeholders has allowed us to improve lives and livelihoods.
We look forward to working with our investors and community partners in the upcoming years to assist the most economically distressed areas. Thank you again for your support and assistance.
Sincerely,
Douglas J. Bystry
Clearinghouse CDFI President / CEO