The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) is now accepting applications from member financial institutions for $2.5 million in AHEAD economic development grants. In response to the economic shocks caused by the COVID-19 crisis, FHLBank San Francisco added $1 million to its planned $1.5 million 2020 program funding allocation. Members of the cooperatively-owned wholesale include bank commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions.

AHEAD grants are delivered through the Bank’s member financial institutions to local community organizations for projects and programs that offer benefits to lower-income and underserved communities, typically by creating or preserving jobs, delivering needed social services, providing job training or education programs, or supporting nonprofit organizational and capacity-building activities.

“People who may be most severely affected by this crisis rely on local nonprofits for critical services and resources,” said Marietta Núñez, Senior Vice President and Community Investment Officer at FHLBank San Francisco. “By added $1 million to this year’s AHEAD Program, our members can deliver AHEAD grants to nonprofit organizations whose own operations are directly impacted by the pandemic, so they can continue to serve their communities.” AHEAD grants can be used to help local nonprofits struggling to adapt to increased costs, loss of staff, and postponed fundraising campaigns tied to the pandemic.

The deadline for FHLBank San Francisco members partnering with nonprofits to submit applications for 2020 AHEAD grants is June 2, 2020. Grant recipients must be located in Arizona, California, or Nevada. Nonprofit organizations interested in connecting with local member financial institutions active in the AHEAD Program can email ahead@fhlbsf.com for more information. This year’s grant winners will be announced in early September.

Since launching the AHEAD Program in 2004, FHLBank San Francisco has awarded over $14.5 million in AHEAD grants to 517 projects. In 2019, 35 members won AHEAD grants to support 55 local initiatives, including projects and programs aimed at:

• developing a multilingual business planning app for Asian-owned micro- and small businesses.
• helping women entrepreneurs in rural communities develop a digital business presence.
• implementing education and employment services programs at multiple homeless shelters within the district.
• starting a small business resource center and delivering bilingual small business training to Latinx entrepreneurs.
• creating a new workforce development program for homeless veterans to enter the conference/trade show installation and design field.
• preserving small businesses by offering technical assistance to transition to worker-owned cooperatives.