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Oweesta Corporation
2432 Main Street, 1st Floor
Longmont, CO 80501
303.774.8838
info@oweesta.org
Oweesta is an equal opportunity employer and provider. We do not discriminate, learn more here: Title VI, Section 504.
ABOUT OWEESTA
Oweesta is the longest standing Native CDFI intermediary offering financial products and development services exclusively to Native CDFIs and Native communities. Specifically, Oweesta provides training, technical assistance, investments, research, and policy advocacy to help Native communities develop an integrated range of asset-building products and services, including financial education and financial products.
Asset-building tools stimulate reservation economies by providing tribal members the opportunity to acquire financial management skills and build and accumulate assets through small business creation, homeownership, education, and much more.
Filing Civil Rights Complaints
If you believe you have been subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, or reprisal for prior civil rights activity, you have the right to file a complaint. Complaints may be filed directly with the Director, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity, at the following address:
Director, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.
Washington, DC 20220
Alternatively, complaints may be submitted via email to crcomplaints@treasury.gov.
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Oweesta Joins NeighborWorks America Network as Charter Member
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2021
Oweesta Joins NeighborWorks America Network as Charter Member
LONGMONT, CO — Oweesta Corporation has been selected as a charter member of the NeighborWorks America network. Oweesta is one of several organizations to join NeighborWorks and its member organizations that serve over 4,500 communities nationwide, focusing on community revitalization, homeownership expansion, and the production of affordable housing to meet the housing needs of hundreds of thousands of people.
“We are so pleased to have these organizations’ breadth of knowledge and expertise in our network,” said NeighborWorks America President & CEO Marietta Rodriguez. “At a time when becoming and staying resilient as a person and community has never been more important, these new NeighborWorks network organizations serve as trusted advisors. Every day they help residents understand all of the services and requirements available to help them own and sustain homes and provide many other services to enhance their lives.”
For more than 40 years, NeighborWorks America has served as the nation’s premier leader in affordable housing and community development working through partnerships, public and private, to drive change at the local level for individuals, families, and communities. Similarly, Oweesta partners with numerous Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to meet the needs of underserved and un-banked Native communities and create opportunities for wealth creation.
“Oweesta is honored to become a member of such an impactful and longstanding organization of affiliates, especially at a time that many Indigenous peoples look to assert our advancement in attaining homeownership on our ancestral lands,” said Chrystel Cornelius, President and CEO of Oweesta. “We have long admired NeighborWorks for uniting and uplifting committed organizations. We are better together. And together, we will strengthen our communities.”
The NeighborWorks network will increase Oweesta’s capacity to train, organize, and advocate for Native CDFIs as they grow the housing market in Indian Country through personalized counseling, homebuyer education, financing, and development of affordable housing. As a chartered member, Oweesta receives organization benefits from funding opportunities, technical assistance, training, and access to a vast network of community-based organizations.
Media Contact
Denisse Ruiz, Communications Officer
Oweesta Corporation
denisse@oweesta.org
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About Oweesta Corporation
Oweesta Corporation provides opportunities for Native people to develop financial assets and create wealth by assisting in the establishment of strong, permanent institutions and programs contributing to economic independence and strengthening sovereignty for all Native communities. Oweesta is the longest-standing Native CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) intermediary offering financial products and development services exclusively to Native CDFIs and Native communities.
oweesta.org
About NeighborWorks America
For more than 40 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a national, nonpartisan nonprofit known as NeighborWorks America, has strived to make every community a place of opportunity. Our network of excellence includes nearly 240 members in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. NeighborWorks America offers grant funding, peer-exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools and access to training, as the nation’s leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations provide residents in their communities with affordable homes, owned and rented; financial counseling and coaching; community building through resident engagement; and collaboration in the areas of health, employment and education.
neighborworks.org
Celebrating our History, and Announcing our Vision for the Future
In 2019, Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta) celebrated our 20th anniversary as an organization. It was a time of deep reflection as we completed new strategic planning activities and discerned how we could best serve as an intermediary and bridge to capital in the upcoming decade. In these conversations, it was clear that Oweesta is both stronger than we have ever been and that we must continue to strive, grow, and push ourselves on behalf of the communities we serve.
Through these discussions with our Board of Directors and parent company, First Nations Development Institute, all concurred that the best way to support Oweesta’s growth was to legally separate and for Oweesta to no longer be a subsidiary of First Nations Development Institute.
Our relationship will remain a close, and Oweesta will be forever grateful for the legacy First Nations Development Institute created by their envisioning of Native Nations having equitable access to capital and investment as most of America enjoys. Both our organizations remain deeply committed to the service of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. We also share the same set of guiding values, believing that when armed with the appropriate resources, Native people hold the capacity and ingenuity to ensure the sustainable, economic, spiritual and cultural well-being of their communities. It with deep gratitude to ours elders and former board members who walked before us and created and built both of these amazing Native-led non-profit organizations that we share this news.
As we look to the future, it seems like there is no better time for Oweesta to take these independent steps. In this time of great reckoning and conversation in our nation, Oweesta remains steadfast in our commitment to capitalizing and supporting the growing Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) movement. As we have seen day after day these last twenty years, Native CDFIs remain one the strongest and most impactful tools for aligning justice and capital for indigenous communities across the country. Oweesta therefore remains as excited about working with these amazing partners as we were on the day that our organization was created.
To learn more about the Oweesta of the future, we are pleased to share our 2021-2023 strategic plan. For all that Oweesta has accomplished, and for what we will in the future, we wish to express our gratitude to First Nations Development Institute, our former Board of Directors, as well as our many grassroots partners. Without your commitment, passion, and strength, we would not have come so far.
2021 VITA Marketing Toolkit
Oweesta and NDN Collective Award $1.25 Million in Grants to Native CDFIs
Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta) and NDN Collective continue to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities who remain uniquely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Together as an Indigenous-led partnership, we are awarding a combined $1,250,000 in grants to 25 Native CDFIs through our COVID-19 Grant Program. These Native CDFIs will further their roles as the economic engines for financial sovereignty in Indian country through the COVID-19 Grant Program.
These organizations have been integral in the sustaining of Indigenous businesses across the United States, from Alaska to Hawaii to Maine. When stay-at-home orders and closures were first issued, Native CDFIs quickly adapted to the emerging needs in their communities; they provided emergency relief capital, supported local businesses adapt to unforeseen supply chain issues, and offered refinancing terms for new and outstanding loans. Knowing that sustaining is not enough, they are also pivoting their business operations and policies to help their communities flourish for a new and better normal.
NACDC Financial Services based in Montana is one such CDFI who has creatively worked with their 600+ clients to ensure no business has had to close. Tourism is a main source of income for several businesses on the Blackfeet Reservation, one of the seven reservations NACDCFS services. Following the closure of the East Glacier Park, many businesses, also clients of NACDCFS, experienced significant financial loss. NACDCFS worked with their clients individually to determine repayment plans and terms and connected them with additional capital resources. They will soon move their technical assistance and trainings virtually in order to help small businesses, agriculture, and homeownership clients succeed.
Hopi Credit in Arizona, similarly, saw many self-employed Tribal members, like artists and food vendors, financially suffer from the cancellation of the Santa Fe Indian market, powwows, and other events, and realized the products and services they traditionally offered weren’t enough for the community. They offered a small business emergency loan and worked with new and existing clients to defer loans payments. Hopi Credit will use the funds to hire more staff to begin realizing their long-term vision of developing much-needed economic infrastructure on the reservation in an effort to keep money circulating within the community.
Overall, the grantees will be essential to the financial recovery of local economies. Oweesta and NDN Collective’s joint commitment to long-term community resilience and sustainability will be furthered by the work and dedication of Native CDFIs.
Use this interactive map to learn more about these grantees.
Here is a complete list of the 25 grantees.
Oweesta Corporation Receives $300,000 Grant to Support Native Communities
New Lending Opportunities Available Now!
Working Capital and Line of Credit Loans
Oweesta is pleased to announce the launch of two new loan products immediately available to our Native CDFI industry. Oweesta is currently accepting inquires for our new Line of Credit and Working Capital/Operating Loan. For Native CDFIs needing flexible capital sources, Oweesta is grateful to be able to offer these new loan products to our Native CDFI partners. Oweesta knows it is a challenging time for our Native CDFIs and hope the growing diversity of our capital options can provide opportunities for innovation during the difficult road ahead.
The origination fees on these loan products will be waived until August 1st in support of our communities affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Working Capital/Operating Loan
The Working Capital/Operating Loan is designed to help Native CDFIs who may be experiencing a difficult time during the Covid19 pandemic or waiting to receive grant revenue they have been awarded, but not received. With this short term temporary loan Native CDFIs can ensure their operating capital will be there when they need it. While the interest rate on this loan will—in the long-term—vary based on market conditions, it is currently between 3.0-4.0% with an origination fee of 2%.
Line of Credit
Our Line of Credit is a renewable line of credit for any of your general lending capital needs. This is a fantastic opportunity for Native CDFIs to launch an emergency loan product. On a one-year term, the current interest rate is 3.0-4.0% with an origination fee of 1%. This loan will have either quarterly or monthly interest-only payments with the principal due at maturity.
https://www.vistashare.com/p/first_nations_oweesta/Oweesta-Portal/login.html
For more information on these loans and how to apply, please contact Florence Ludka at florence@oweesta.org
WELLS FARGO FOUNDATION PROVIDES $1.8 MILLION MULTI-YEAR GRANT TO SUPPORT NATIVE CDFIS
LONGMONT, CO – First Nations Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta) is excited to announce Wells Fargo Foundation (Wells Fargo) has awarded the organization a grant of $1.8 million to support the Equity and Opportunity for Start-up, Emerging, and Growing Native CDFIs program.
This new program, supported by Wells Fargo, will allow Oweesta to provide equity grants to start-up, emerging, and growing Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in the lower 48 states and the state of Alaska seeking loan capital from Oweesta in addition to in-depth technical assistance to support these groups in the lending process.
Native CDFIs are vital nonprofit organizations in their communities. They operate as crucial financial institutions with a mission of providing responsible, affordable lending opportunities for ‘under-banked’ individuals, especially those who are low-income and low-wealth. CDFIs serve individuals in building or repairing credit, supporting entrepreneurship, helping build assets like homeownership, and more.
Native CDFIs are often created in locations with the fewest Tribal and/or philanthropic resources, meaning for many start-up, emerging, and growing Native CDFIs, it can be difficult to access the initial seed capital for lending. This program will help Native CDFIs build capacity to attain certification with the CDFI Fund, access further capital sources, and serve their communities’ capital needs.
Oweesta anticipates serving five to seven Native CDFIs per year through this program, providing an average grant of $65,000. These grants will be provided as match to loans given by Oweesta to Native CDFIs. Native CDFIs will be selected through an open application process. To qualify for this matching grant, a Native CDFI would need to meet the following requirements:
• Be located in and serve Alaska or the Continental U.S.
• Have less than $5MM in organizational total assets
• Have less than $500,000 in non-federal debt
• Must meet all Oweesta underwriting requirements
Preference will be given to organizations that have been lending for less than five years. These Native CDFIs will be selected to participate in the program in accordance with when they are “loan ready” to receive a loan from Oweesta.
Chrystel Cornelius, Executive Director of Oweesta, states, “This grant funding will support the incubation and growth of Native CDFIs by directly addressing capital, equity, and capacity building challenges. We are incredibly grateful for this funding as it will bolster our Native CDFIs capacity to meet target market lending demands and offer an opportunity of an equity match to our lending capital provisions. This inherently strengthens our Native CDFIs capacity to grow and strength their financial position in serving their respective tribal communities.”
“Native Community Development Financial Institutions provide affordable lending to help grow local businesses, spark job growth and help low-income and underserved people and communities succeed financially and thrive,” said Cora Gaane, Wells Fargo tribal advocate. “Wells Fargo is pleased to partner with First Nations Oweesta in its efforts to strengthen Native CDFIs and drive economic development throughout Indian Country.”
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About Oweesta
Oweesta Corporation’s mission is to provide opportunities for Native people to develop financial assets and create wealth by assisting in the establishment of strong, permanent institutions and programs contributing to economic independence and strengthening sovereignty for all Native communities. Oweesta is the only existing Native CDFI (community development financial institution) intermediary offering financial products and development services exclusively to Native CDFIs and Native communities. Specifically, Oweesta provides training, technical assistance, investments, research, and policy advocacy to help Native communities develop an integrated range of asset-building products and services, including financial education and financial products. Native CDFIs provide Native communities the tools and capital support required for real and sustainable job creation, small business development, commercial real estate development, and affordable housing/home ownership, while also offering basic banking services and financial literacy training to “underbanked” Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities who have been historically targeted by predatory lending practices.
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Contact:
Krystal Langholz, Chief Operating Officer, Oweesta Corporation
krystal@oweesta.org or 303.774.8838
Note: All other grant seekers can apply through www.wellsfargo.com/donations or through the Diverse Community Capital program https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/financing/real-estate/community-lending-investment/cdfi. Wells Fargo’s current grant application process is closed for 2019.