Reinvestment Fund - a catalyst for change

Reinvestment Fund integrates data, policy and strategic investments to improve the quality of life in low-income neighborhoods. Using analytical and financial tools, they bring high-quality grocery stores, affordable housing, schools and health centers to the communities that need better access – creating anchors that attract investment over the long term and help families lead healthier, more productive lives.

Since its inception, Reinvestment Fund has financed more than 3,150 community investments, delivering $1.8 billion in capital. This has helped create 21,245 housing units; 71,550 jobs; 17 million square feet of commercial space; 65,060 education opportunities for students; 163 supermarkets, grocery stores and fresh food retail; 621,360 annual patient visits at community health centers; 778 businesses; and enough energy conserved and created to power 751,882 homes.

Expanding access to quality early childhood education

Reinvestment Fund has more than two decades of experience financing childcare by supporting the growth of providers and increasing the quality of care.

Reinvestment Fund recently made a loan to Community Concern #13 Multi-Purpose Learning Center, a nonprofit early childhood education provider that offers high-quality child care and education services in north Philadelphia. The loan will support upgrading, expanding and reconfiguring the facility to include a new full classroom for 20 more preschoolers. Community Concern plays a critical role in the community by providing early childhood education, particularly for low-income families.

Reinvestment Fund partner BrightFarms brings fresh local produce to Pennsylvania

BrightFarms wants to disrupt the produce supply chain and reduce the number of miles vegetables have to travel before landing on supermarket shelves. 

The company operates hydroponic gardens in greenhouses and on rooftop gardens that supply lettuce and tomatoes to local markets in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Missouri, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, increasing access to locally grown food.

“The produce will be at least a week fresher, taste better, and be more nutritious and safer,” said Paul Lightfoot, CEO of BrightFarms. “It also reduces environmental input, uses less land, less fuel and less greenhouse gases.”

Chris Williams is operating one of BrightFarms’s latest operations – a hydroponic greenhouse in Yardley, Pennsylvania, that will provide produce to McCaffrey’s Markets, Superfresh, and John Vena Inc. in Philadelphia.

“This company is extremely forward-thinking,” said Williams. “This is a groundbreaking opportunity and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Reinvestment Fund provided BrightFarms with $1.26 million in senior debt capital for the Yardley farm as part of its commitment to increasing access to healthy, affordable foods in underserved communities.

Praxis Mutual Funds^® supports organizations such as Reinvestment Fund through investments in Calvert Impact Capital, an impact-investing institution that helps people around the world through community development financing. It’s part of the Praxis commitment to place approximately 1% of each of its funds to benefit neighborhoods and individuals through community development investments.