COMMUNITY BLUEPRINT: CCLF’S NEWSLETTER OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, ISSUES & FEATURES

2nd Quarter/2014

President’s MessageAs you have been reading in our newsletter, website and other CCLF communications, Chicago Community Loan Fund continues to grow its loan portfolio - al-ready reaching $11.1 million in financing with an ad-ditional $11.4 in commitments in the first half of the year. This compares to the $18.8 million in total closed last year. To keep up with this record pace and en-sure internal capacity continues to meet our borrow-ers’ demand, we have affected major changes which include new hires and promotions. I am delighted to share with you that I have promoted Rob Rose to Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President

of Programs of the Chicago Community Loan Fund effective May 1. Rob served as our Vice President of Lending over the past two years and led the organization to our new and higher standards of lending and technical assistance provision.

Rob will continue to serve as the executive lender for the corporation with a team of middle managers to support him. New positions created include Director of Lending Operations, Director of Portfolio Management, Director of Operations and Director of Economic Development. I am also bifurcating our finance and administration functions which become separate departments overseen by Rob as their executive. Jane Ames, who has greatly improved our accounting systems over the past five years, will focus on accounting and finance with a new greatly expanded team which includes a Controller and Finance and Accounting Asso-ciate. As CCLF grows, we are moving to expand these departments so they can focus on their ever-broadening, but distinct, responsibilities.

My board and I are confident that our new structure will allow us to improve cross-department integration and communications, develop our terrific team of emerging leaders, improve operational efficiencies and provide better service to our customers, investors, funders and other partners. We will be able to do more for the people and places that deserve a higher quality of life.

Calvin L. Holmes, President

In This Issue

Page 1• President’s Message

Pages 2-3• Alford-Axelson Award

• Partners in Progress Initiative:Bringing Firsthand Knowledge of Successful Corridors to the Table

Pages 4-5• CCLF Holds Second Annual

Stakeholders Meeting• Chicago Green Office

Challenge• CCLF Technical Assistance

Assessment Report• Federal Reserve Community

Development Resource• Donate to CCLF

Page 6• Meet an Investor:

Irene D. Ginger• CCLF 2013 Annual Report

• CCLF Says Farewell to Alyce

Page 7• CCLF Noteworthy

• CCLF Board of Directors

Page 8• Credit Memos

• CCLF Staff

And the Winner Is?

The suspense level was high and all the nominees were present at the Annual Sympo-sium held by the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management of North Park University.

Chicago Community Loan Fund was in the running for the coveted 2014 Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and had shared detailed in-formation on our strong qualifications including financial management, use of volunteers, fundraising, governance, operating policies, human resource man-agement, strategic planning, external relations, programs and impact. CCLF had applied for this award in the past and had received honorable mention as we continued to improve our internal capacity over the years to better serve our customers.

The mission of The Axelson Center is to enhance performance and effective-ness of organizations and individuals in the nonprofit sector through education, service and resources. To further this goal, they offer a professional certificate in nonprofit management for students and a variety of programs for professionals working in or transitioning into the nonprofit sector such as workshops, the An-nual Symposium, BootCamp for New Nonprofit CEOs and more.

The Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence is awarded each year to nonprofits serving the seven-county Chicago region that exemplify out-standing nonprofit management practices.

This year, 19 organizations were nominated, from which six finalists were se-lected. The recipient organizations were announced at the 15th annual Sympo-sium on June 3, 2014, and presented cash awards of $7,500 each and a beautiful crystal trophy. A committee of nonprofit and community leaders determined the recipients.

This year’s Large Category award winner was Chicago Community Loan Fund! This announcement was made by a video that played to an audience of 400 nonprofit sector leaders.

Calvin Holmes, CCLF President, was present to accept the award. He acknowledged La Casa Norte the other finalist in the Large Category, and the winners in the Small and Emerging Category - Literature for All of Us and Waukegan to College.

Partners in Progress Initiative

The Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) and West Humboldt Park

Development Council (WHPDC) are the co-quarterbacks for the Citi

and Low Income Investment Fund’s (LIIF) national Partners in Progress

(PIP) initiative to increase economic progress in low-income communi-

ties. CCLF and WHPDC have worked together for seven months on the

West Chicago Avenue Rebuild project that will bring community partners together through a year-long planning process to trans-

form eight blocks of West Chicago Avenue between Kedzie (3200 W) and Central Park (3600 W) into a

vibrant, attractive, inviting and safe neighborhood retail district, replete

with more and better goods and services and jobs within three years.

The work of the co-quarterbacks is leading a comprehensive effort

that will include a review of success-ful multi-stakeholder micro market community development initiatives;

assessment of the current condi-tions and development challenges of people, properties and business

owners in the corridor; data sharing; planning meetings between co-

quarterbacks, community residents, partners and a new retail advisory

committee. These activities will lead to a new, bold, achievable, silo-

busting action plan that will attempt to link idle people on the corridor to jobs, workforce development oppor-tunities, case management services and youth services; improve public safety on the corridor dramatically;

assist existing and new merchants in being better shopkeepers with higher quality goods and services; improve streetscaping and upkeep of open

spaces; attract new businesses with a high probability of success based on spending leakage analysis; rehabili-

tate dilapidated and under-improved buildings; repurpose properties to

new uses and create a new brand for the corridor that excites residents of the community, as well as those from

a larger trade area.

Continued on next page, sidebar2

Photo by John Martin-EatingerPictured: CCLF Board Member Ailisa Herrera; CCLF COO Rob Rose; Axleson

Center Director Dr. Pier Rogers; CCLF President Calvin Holmes; widow of award namesake Jimmie Alford, Marie Bullock; and CCLF VP of

External Relations Juan Calixto

“This award will make CCLF work harder to improve our management practices so that we can continue to proudly display this trophy in our offices as a remind-er to be the best we can be for all of our stakeholders,” stated Calvin.

The awards committee selected CCLF because it “demonstrated effective man-agement through its in-depth strategic planning process, cultivation and rela-tionship building with volunteers, effective resource management, and transpar-ency with stakeholders. The award review committee believes the effectiveness of these practices will fuel the expansion of CCLF’s economic impact, and directly enable the individuals, families, and communities it serves to thrive.”

Chicago Community Loan Fund and West Humboldt Park Development Council representatives meet with Betina Dowdell of Citi Community Capital (center) and Marcus Samuelsson (second from left), Chef/Owner of Red Rooster in Harlem, NY

on March 1, 2014. Read our story about Partners in Progress on the sidebar!

Partners in Progress Initiative: Bringing Firsthand Knowledge of Successful Corridors to the Table

How will all this happen? By tak-ing lessons learned from those that have worked to revitalize a commercial corridor and secur-ing community input. The West

Chicago Avenue Rebuild (WCAR) has made significant progress in seven months to identify part-ners, gather data from success-ful corridors, collect community

input, research public and private resources and continue to refine its implementation plan. Three visits have been completed to study existing commercial cor-

ridors to learn how they became successful over time and what

challenges they faced. Visits were made to St. Louis, MO to study The Grove district, Washington

DC – Columbia Heights to study the Tivoli Square/DC USA project and New York – Harlem/125th St. area to meet with the Abyssinian

Development Corporation.

Lessons learned from the corri-dor visits indicated how engage-ment of the community was dif-ficult at times and patience was needed, as some of these proj-ects took ten plus years in their development. Another lesson

was the importance of having a developer who has a great deal of corridor real estate under its

control being in place to aggres-sively recruit tenants. Addition-ally, an anchor tenant helps spur development and confidence in

the corridor.

West Humboldt Park Rebuild has begun to engage local residents and business owners by seeking

their input on a survey asking what kind of goods and services

they would like to see in the area. The co-quarterbacks are taking the lessons learned from

the corridor visits and com-munity survey to further refine

the implementation plan for the remainder of the year.

To get involved with the planning process or to launch a develop-

ment in the corridor, contact Chet Jackson at (773) 342-0036.

3

CCLF Holds Second Annual Stakeholders MeetingChicago Community Loan Fund held its annual stakeholders meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on June 12, 2014. Funders, investors, partners and pub-lic agency representatives were present to hear the programmatic goals that CCLF achieved in 2013 and year-to-date.

Above: Audience at the Stakeholders Meeting

Board member Ed Jacob opened the meeting by setting the stage and then introduc-ing Jason Keller, Economic Development and Illinois State Director for the Community Development and Policy Studies Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Jason welcomed CCLF’s stakeholders to the Federal Reserve and reflected on trending new regulations and Community Reinvestment Act requirements for the financial industry.

Board Chair John Tuohy acknowledged special guests and Jason for providing a won-derful venue and support team for the meeting and introduced the CCLF board and management team to the audience. He thanked PNC Bank for once again sponsoring the stakeholders meeting and announced that they have just become CCLF’s largest investor at $8 million. Thurman Smith, SVP Community Development Bank - Market Manager for PNC replied, “PNC Bank strategically partners with organizations that can efficiently and prudently address the unique demands of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. CDFI partners like CCLF have demonstrated a proven ability to navigate under-served neighborhoods and to address the unique capital require-ments that too often impede revitalization, growth and equality.”

CCLF President Cal-vin Holmes joined with great news: CCLF won the 2014 Alford-Axelson Award for Managerial Excellence; CCLF’s CARS rating was improved from A 3 to AA 2 and CCLF reached its asset goal of $50 million two years ahead of sched-ule. He also highlighted the new organizational structure that positions CCLF to proactively meet the growing de-mand for financing.

The news continued to get better from the oth-er presenters, which in-cluded Rob Rose, newly appointed COO and Ex-

Chicago Green Office Challenge

The Chicago Green Office Challenge Award & Recognition

Ceremony took place on June 18.

The event, held at the Chicago Cultural Center, recognized

the Round 3 participants who had scored the most points in the Challenge or achieved

other milestones. The Challenge makes Chicago more sustain-able by having companies and

tenants engage in friendly com-petition to reduce

environmental impact.

With 3,625 points, Chicago Community Loan Fund received

18th place out of over 150 scoring participants, and was awarded a gold-level business

award.

In her speech to the awardees, Karen Weigert, chief sustain-ability officer for the City of Chicago, mentioned CCLF

specifically, sharing our “Big 3” challenge as an example of intra-office competition. The

“Big 3” challenge called for staff members to turn off the three

electronics at their desk – com-puter, monitor and printer – be-fore heading home each night. Other notable efforts by CCLF included our purchase of a set of dishes, so that each time we receive catering, we are not us-

ing disposable dishware.

Round 4 of the Green Office Challenge will begin around La-bor Day in 2014. Learn more at

http://chicagogoc.com/ or

https://twitter.com/chigreenoffice4

CCLF celebrates PNC Bank as its largest investor. Pictured are Calvin L. Holmes, CCLF President; Thurman “Tony”

Smith, PNC Bank’s SVP Community Development Bank - Market Manager; Jane Ames, CCLF’s VP of Finance; Rob

Rose, CCLF’s COO and EVP of Programs and Paul Labonne, PNC Bank’s VP and Community Reinvestment Act Officer

ecutive Vice President of Programs and Jane Ames, Vice President of Finance.

After all the program data was pre-sented and the audit figures fully ex-plained, Rob introduced two of CCLF’s borrowers to share their experience with the loan fund. They both stole the show with their personal demonstra-tions of the effects of CCLF loans.

Lynn Kardasz talked about her dream of opening a healthy foods store in Uptown called Veg Head. Contractors were delayed and so was her capital until CCLF helped filled the gap with a loan. Now Lynn is making a profit and has been approached to open a sec-ond store in another community. As a savvy business woman, she concluded by offering a 20% discount to those at-tending the meeting if they come by her store and make a purchase.

Lynn was followed by Rick Guzman, Chair of the Board for Emmanuel House. Rick showed a video of Khai and Lun who are refugees from a western Burmese vil-lage. At Emmanuel House in Aurora, Il-linois they found stable and affordable housing that allowed them to keep their jobs and save for a down payment on a home. A key service of Emmanuel House is establishing saving accounts for residents using part of their rent payments, as well as providing financial literacy and credit building classes. The video concluded with Khai and Lun’s emotional move from Emmanuel House into their new home.

CCLF showcased photos of completed borrower projects and with the goal of transparency, presented charts and graphs detail-ing CCLF loans and financ-es. The impact of CCLF’s loans is measured in units of affordable housing, square feet of community facility and commercial re-tail space developed and number of jobs created or retained. Yet, the real im-pact of CCLF’s financing was witnessed in the hap-piness shared by Khai and Lun as they packed their boxes and carried them into their own home and in Lynn’s proud smile when she talked about Veg Head and invited everyone to share her healthy snacks.

Federal Reserve Community Development

ResourceThe Federal Reserve’s community development offers research, out-reach and technical assistance and other activities to promote a more

robust economy overall with a focus on low- to moderate-income communities. They have launched FedCommunities.org as a gateway

to access community develop-ment resources from all 12 Federal

Reserve Banks and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Be sure to bookmark this site to learn about practical resources to help you in your role as a com-

munity development professional and you can also provide feed-

back on what information will be helpful for your community. You

can access the site at http://fedcommunities.org/

CCLF Technical AssistanceAssessment Report

CCLF conducted a multi-year assessment of its Gateway to

Community Development Tech-nical Assistance Program from

2009-2013. The report indicates CCLF’s technical assistance has been instrumental in helping a wide range of developers make meaningful impact in their com-

munities. CCLF’s staple workshops, including Project Readiness and Building for Sustainability, have

been well-received, with 680 par-ticipants attending 135 workshops

between 2009 and 2013.

To learn more, access the report at http://cclfchicago.org/about-us/publications

Lynn Kardasz of Veg Head and John Tuohy, CCLF Board Chair

Rick Guzman of Emmanuel House and Mark Fick, CCLF Director of Lending

Operations

CCLF Board Member Ed Jacob and Herman Brewer, Director of Cook County’s Bureau of

Economic Development

Donate to CCLF We need your financial support

to provide targeted technical and financial assistance that empow-ers community-based developers to help create communities where

people thrive. To support our work with a secure

online donation, please visit http://cclfchicago.org/support-us

5

Meet an Investor: Irene D. Ginger by Alyce EatonCommunity Blueprint showcases our bor-rowers and their projects that are helping to revitalize low- to moderate-income neigh-borhoods in the Chicago area. What may be less apparent is where CCLF gets the capital to be able to make these loans, and the an-swer is: investors. Some of our investments are from banks and corporations, but almost half of our investors are individuals and families. Irene D. Ginger is one such investor placing worth on the social impact that CCLF can help deliver.

Ginger, who lives in Park Ridge, first learned about CCLF through her son, Paul, who now works for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In the past, he was a member of the CCLF Board of Directors and men-tored CCLF President, Calvin L. Holmes when he was a lender.

“I decided I was interested in socially-conscious investing and so I decided, well, a couple thousand dollars is not going to break me, so I went ahead and gradually, I increased my investment in CCLF,” Ginger said.

Ginger, who has lived in or near Chicago all her life and attended the University of Chicago, also credited some of her interest in socially responsible investing to her faith and the Catholic social doctrine.

“When I was in high school, there was a Chicago Inter-Student Catholic Action group, and they used to meet on Saturday mornings downtown,” Ginger said. “That was what really got me into thinking about all of these social issues.”

Though Ginger has several family members involved in community development and other nonprofit work, including a granddaughter working at Women Employed, her own background is in the realm of science. She worked as a biochemist, then left to raise her five children before working in medical legal research and, finally, as a techni-cal editor at Argonne National Laboratory.

Ginger noted how much Chicago has expanded and changed since she grew up near Humboldt Park and attended the Chicago Holy Family Academy, including the devel-opments in mass transit. She also mentioned seeing the University of Chicago become more aware of the neighborhoods and people surrounding it.

“When I went back to the neighborhood where I grew up, which was Bucktown/Wicker Park, that area, the street on which I lived was still intact. Across the alley from where I lived, those houses had been demolished and there were townhomes,” Ginger said. “They didn’t physically change most of the buildings … but they were gentrified. The iron fences, I felt like they were a gated community and I felt like they were closing me out of my neighborhood … so that was a little bit of a shock.”

When Christmas or her birthday comes up, rather than acquiring gifts, Ginger now likes to find something to invest in or make a contribution to, including other local and en-vironmental causes, such as urban farming on Chicago’s South Side. Ginger stated she believes in the idea of CCLF and is happy to see the positive results of her investment.

“I like the idea of helping somebody else get established,” Ginger said. “It’s the old say-ing – you can feed a man for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, he’ll eat forever! Assuming, of course, that he’s near water.”

Irene D. Ginger

CCLF 2013 Annual Report

CCLF’s 2013 Annual Report high-lights the story of three borrow-ers whose projects help revitalize Chicagoland’s more challenged

neighborhoods: a commercial retail property in the Chatham neigh-borhood in Chicago completed

by Veja Enterprises; an affordable housing program for refugees that leads to homeownership operated by Emmanuel House in Aurora; and a project currently under develop-

ment by Theaster Gates, owner of The Stony Group, in Chicago’s

South Shore that is creating a cultural space that will house arts, food, the John H. Johnson archives

and more.

You can read about the impact of these projects and all the high-

lights from 2013 by accessing the Annual Report at

http://cclfchicago.org/about-us/publications

CCLF Says Farewell to Alyce

Lutheran Corps Volunteer Alyce Eaton concludes her term with Chicago Community Loan Fund in July 2014 after completing a full year of service to the CDFI

industry. Alyce has been a stead-fast contributor to Community

Blueprint, doing all the design and layout for CCLF’s e-newsletter and

print newsletter. Her contribu-tions to the lending team assisted

many potential borrowers by providing information and refer-rals and support during technical

assistance workshops. CCLF wishes Alyce much success and thanks her for her dedicated service to

community development.

Alyce Eaton, Lutheran Volunteer Corps 2013-2014 member6

Thank You to Funders and InvestorsFor their recent grants, CCLF thanks Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management, Citi Foundation, MB Charitable Foundation, The PrivateBank and the Searle Fund at The Chicago Community Trust.

For their recent investments and renewals, CCLF thanks Kathy Tholin, Trinity Health, The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth and Marisa Whitesell.

CCLF Staff & Board News CCLF welcomes Deborah Sabol as our new Director of Operations. Deborah was origi-nally hired as the Office Manager and was immediately promoted. She has over 10 years of experience as an operations manager for several corporations. Deborah holds a bach-elor’s degree in Business Management and Development from DePaul University.

Kevin Truitt is the new Senior Loan/Program Officer, further expanding our lend-ing team. Prior to working at CCLF, Kevin spent the bulk of his career in finance as a corporate and commercial banker working for major financial institutions. Kevin earned his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Loyola University and MBA from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

Deandre Tanner joins CCLF in the newly created position of Finance and Accounting Associate. Prior to his employment with CCLF, Deandre was an accounting intern. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Chicago State University.

Recent staff promotions include: Rob Rose to Chief Operating Officer and Execu-tive Vice President of Programs from Vice President of Lending; Mark Fick to Di-rector of Lending Operations from Senior Loan/Portfolio Officer; Lycrecia Parks to Director of Portfolio Management from Senior Portfolio Management Officer; Deborah Sabol to Director of Operations from Office Manager, Evelyn Turner to Senior Loan Closing Officer from Loan Closing Officer and Lincoln Stannard to Portfolio Management Associate from Lending Associate.

CCLF Noteworthy

New CCLF staff, clockwise:

Deborah Sabol, Director of Operations;

Kevin Truitt, Senior Loan/Program Officer and

Deandre Tanner, Finance and Accounting Associate

CCLF Board of Directors

John L. Tuohy, ChairChapman and Cutler LLP (retired)

Matthew R. Reilein, Vice ChairChase

Charles S. Walls, TreasurerComEd

Mohammed M. Elahi, SecretaryConsultant

Jody AdlerThe Law Project

Jerome ByersCiti

Robert G. ByronBlue Vista Capital Management, LLC

Charles F. DaasUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

Thomas P. FitzGibbon, Jr.Talmer Bank and Trust

Erik L. HallGrosvenor Capital Management, L.P.

Ailisa HerreraMB Financial Bank

Edward J. HoynesCommunity Accounting Services

Ed Jacob Neighborhood Housing Services

of Chicago

Patricia Y. McCreary Consultant

Raymond S. McGaughMcGaugh Law Group LLC

Eric S. PhillipsVillage Bank & Trust (a Wintrust

Community Bank)

Nancy Radner The Primo Center for Women

and Children

Mark C. SpearsThe PrivateBank

Kathryn Tholin Center for Neighborhood Technology 7

The mission of the Chicago Community Loan Fund is to provide flexible, affordable and responsible financing and technical assistance for community

stabilization and development efforts and initiatives that benefit low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, families and individuals

throughout metropolitan Chicago.

5655 S Indiana, LLC received a $440,000 permanent loan to refinance 22 units of affordable rental housing in Washington Park. This loan is part of the Cook County Preservation Compact.

Community Service Council of Northern Will County received a $150,000 revolv-ing loan to purchase and renovate foreclosed properties across Will County. This loan is part of CCLF’s Neighborhood Investor Lending Program. Thanks to Doug Tedeschi of Kirkland & Ellis LLP for serving as CCLF’s counsel on this transaction.

Genesis Cooperative received a $410,000 construction/mini-permanent loan to refinance and complete minor repairs to a 22-unit housing cooperative in South Shore. This loan is part of the Cook County Preservation Compact. Thanks to Es-ther King of Kirkland & Ellis LLP for serving as CCLF’s counsel on this transaction.

Blue Chair Capital, LLC received a $90,000 construction/mini-permanent loan to refinance two affordable rental properties in Burnside and Greater Grand Cross-ing. This loan is part of CCLF’s Neighborhood Investor Lending Program. Thanks to Joy Spezeski and Coree Smith of Kirkland & Ellis LLP for serving as CCLF’s counsel on this transaction.

XT Properties, LLC received a $666,240 mini-permanent loan to finance 2-3 unit rental properties across Chicago’s South and West Sides. This loan is part of CCLF’s Neighborhood Investor Lending Program. Thanks to Patrick Herndon of Mayer Brown LLP for serving as CCLF’s counsel on this transaction.

West Humboldt Park Development Council received a $225,000 mini-perma-nent loan to refinance a community office and a healthy food restaurant in Hum-boldt Park. This loan is part of our commercial real estate initiative. Thanks to Brian Dole of DLA Piper LLP for serving as CCLF’s counsel on this transaction.

Lifeline Productions, Inc. received a $250,000 mortgage refinance and working capital loan to offer access to live theatre and education in Rogers Park. Thanks to Meredith Morgan of Chapman and Cutler LLP for serving as CCLF’s counsel on this transaction.

CCLF Staff

Calvin L. HolmesPresident

Rob Rose Chief Operating Officer/Executive Vice

President, Programs

Jane I. AmesVice President of Finance

Juan CalixtoVice President of External Relations

Mark FickDirector of Lending Operations

Lycrecia Parks Director of Portfolio Management

Deborah SabolDirector of Operations

Wendell HarrisSenior Loan/Program Officer

Evelyn TurnerSenior Loan Closing Officer

Kevin TruittSenior Loan/Program Officer

Kallie RollenhagenTechnical Assistance Program Officer

Bettye ClaggetteFinance & Accounting Associate

Elizabeth GinsbergPortfolio Management Associate

Lincoln StannardPortfolio Management Associate

Deandre TannerFinance & Accounting Associate

Alyce EatonProgram Assistant

Consultant

Chelsi CicekogluLender

Newsletter Credits

Compiled by:Juan CalixtoAlyce Eaton

Calvin Holmes

Printed by:Salsedo Press

@cclfchicago

Credit Memos: CCLF Lends $2.23 Million in 2nd Quarter