skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Ohio's milestone moment for women in government; Price growth ticked up in November as inflation progress stalls; NE public housing legal case touches on quality of life for vulnerable renters; California expert sounds alarm on avian flu's threat to humans, livestock.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Debates on presidential accountability, the death penalty, gender equality, Medicare and Social Security cuts; and Ohio's education policies highlight critical issues shaping the nation's future.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Many rural counties that voted for Trump also cast ballots against school vouchers and to protect abortion rights, Pennsylvania's Black mayors are collaborating to unite their communities and unique methods are being tried to address America's mental health crisis.

Federal tax credits help clinics expand in low-income IL communities

play audio
Play

Tuesday, November 12, 2024   

A federal program is awarding billions of dollars in tax credits to spur investment and economic growth in low-income urban and rural communities.

The New Market Tax Credits program has allocated funds to 104 Community Development Entities for projects and job development in Illinois and elsewhere. One such entity, Self-Help Ventures Fund, is investing $50 million in low-income urban, rural and tribal communities.

Sarah Brennan, structured finance sector leader for the fund, said they are focusing their investments on vital entities such as health clinics, charter schools and food banks.

"The program works by the government allocating authority to CDEs like ours to then give that tax credit to projects," Brennan explained. "What that allows projects to do is attract an investor."

Self-Help has contributed $7 million to fund an expansion of Esperanza Health Centers in Chicago, more than doubling the public health clinic's capacity. Esperanza ranks among the top 3% of clinics nationwide for patient care outcomes. More than 90% of its patients are low-income people of color.

Esperanza recently opened a 40,000 square-foot expansion that will serve more than 23,000 additional patients.

Ryan Gadia, CFO of Esperanza, said Self-Help guided the clinic to connect with new investors for the project.

"Once we were putting together the financing on this building, we worked with a local community development entity, Chicago Development Fund," Gadia pointed out. "It is through them that we got the introduction to Self-Help."

Gadia added before the clinic expanded, patients were experiencing long waits just to see a doctor.

Brennan stressed their goal is more than just building a new building.

"Another remarkable byproduct of these deals is the new jobs that are created, all the different medical jobs, construction jobs, and then jobs like the food service areas," Brennan outlined. "It's a real economic-engine tool."

Disclosure: Self-Help Credit Union contributes to our fund for reporting on Consumer Issues, Environment, Health Issues, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
David Bintz' brother, Robert Bintz, was also released from prison this year and was represented by the Great North Innocence Project. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The Wisconsin Innocence Project is ending the year with some key victories including helping with the release of two men who each spent decades in pri…


Social Issues

play sound

Missouri has stepped up to fight childhood hunger by providing food aid over the summer for kids who rely on school meals for nutrition. The U.S…

Social Issues

play sound

The public housing agency serving Nebraska's largest city faces legal action amid claims of poor living conditions for a tenant with disabilities…


Health and Wellness

play sound

Indianapolis is expanding its innovative Clinician-Led Community Response program, offering Hoosiers a new approach to handling mental health crises…

In 2021, Black people owned less than 2% of companies within the $18 billion cannabis industry, according to a report by Leafly. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Worker-owned cannabis cooperatives in Rhode Island are striving to help those affected by the war on drugs. State law mandates at least six retail …

Environment

play sound

Christmas, it turns out, is for the birds, at least for those that will be counted this year in the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count…

Environment

play sound

A small turtle made popular in the "Kung Fu Panda" movies could soon be added to the endangered species list. Iowa wildlife advocates are working to …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021