The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance advocates for shared prosperity, accelerated by investments in robust pathways for economic mobility and opportunity. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are essential to enabling those investments. They are the financial lifeblood of so many U.S. communities, giving the economy a competitive edge and helping so many fulfill their own American dream.

President Trump’s recent Executive Order imperils this vision. It threatens to substantially weaken the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund, a decades-old entity that empowers CDFIs to provide responsible, affordable loans to families seeking to buy their first home or to entrepreneurs with a new, innovative idea for a local business.

We strongly urge the Administration to rescind the Order and to support efforts to preserve and expand the CDFI Fund. We encourage our colleagues across the private sector to communicate with their leaders in Congress about the importance of CDFIs for Main Street small businesses, homeowners and residents in communities across the country.

Bipartisan champions across Congress have recognized the importance of the CDFI Fund and its programs for years. Congress just reaffirmed its support for the CDFI Fund and the critical work it enables. Agencies like the CDFI Fund are integral to the way that the private sector and government work together to spur innovation and economic growth in local Main Streets and rural communities across America.

To learn more about the people and places CDFIs serve, explore some of their stories here.