Enterprise Community Loan Fund Invests $1 Million in Native Impact Fund

COLUMBIA, MD - Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) today announced a $1 million loan to the Great Plains Housing Initiative, Inc. (GPHI) to expand its Native Impact Fund (NIF), a first-of-its-kind, Native-led secondary market designed to unlock flexible, mission-aligned capital for Native community development financial institutions (CDFI).

The loan was announced at The Gathering, a convening of Tribal homeownership coalitions and housing organizations in Salt Lake City hosted by Enterprise, and provided by the organization's CDFI, Enterprise Community Loan Fund. With more than $3.2 billion invested in high-impact, community-serving projects, Enterprise Community Loan Fund is one of the largest nonprofit CDFIs in the country.

Created by GPHI, the Native Impact Fund expands the lending capacity of Native CDFIs by purchasing their performing housing loans - including home improvement loans, 30-year mortgages, and seasoned mortgages with shorter remaining terms. Through these loan purchases, NIF allows participating Native CDFIs to recycle their lending capital in additional homeownership and housing development opportunities in the communities they serve.

A defining feature of the model is that originating CDFIs retain underwriting control and servicing rights over the loans they sell to NIF. This structure helps Native CDFIs to preserve community relationships at the heart of their work while gaining access to much-needed capital to advance Tribal self-determination and economic resilience in the process.

"Enterprise's investment in the Native Impact Fund helps us turn capital into housing opportunities for Native families," said GPHI Executive Director Desmond Bruguier (Assiniboine/Sioux/Gros Ventre). "By purchasing performing housing loans from Native CDFIs, NIF replenishes their lending capital so it can be put back to work in the communities they serve. Enterprise is helping build a Native-led financial system where capital continues to circulate, creating opportunities for these Native communities far beyond a single investment."

Founded in 2024 by the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition, the Great Plains Housing Initiative works alongside Tribally Designated Housing Entities and other local Native institutions to overcome barriers and expand access to financially sustainable, affordable housing. The $1 million loan will support GPHI's work to build out NIF as a lasting financial infrastructure for Indian Country.

"The Native Impact Fund is an innovative approach to addressing one of the most persistent challenges facing Native housing finance: access to capital that can grow alongside demand," said Elise Balboni, EVP and head of Lending and New Markets Investments at Enterprise. "We're grateful to partner with GPHI and the Native CDFIs, housing organizations, and investors bringing this model to life. By building long-term financial infrastructure that expands lending capacity, NIF has the potential to create more pathways to homeownership for Native families for years to come."

"This investment reflects how Enterprise's capital and solutions teams work in tandem to meet Tribal partners where they are," said Jeremiah Powless (Oneida/Diné), program manager of Native American Housing Programs at Enterprise. "Enterprise Community Loan Fund provides the financing that helps scale NIF's reach, while our Solutions Division helps Tribes build the capacity to design and fulfill their affordable housing and homeownership goals on their own terms."

###

About Enterprise Community Loan Fund
Enterprise Community Loan Fund, a community development financial institution, is an affiliate of Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. Enterprise Community Partners supports community development organizations on the ground, aggregates and invests capital for impact, advances housing policy at every level of government, and builds and manages communities. Since 1982, we have invested $92 billion and created 1.1 million homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands - all to make home and community places of pride, power, and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org.