IFF has provided over 35 below-market rate loans to nonprofit corporations across Wisconsin for a total principal of more than $18 million. Wisconsin Director Lanie Wasserman notes, "I am constantly inspired by the nonprofit corporations we serve and the value our loan products can provide them.”
IFF works across sectors with agencies like the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, helping them purchase and renovate a facility to better suit their programs, decrease operating costs, and increase future revenue.
To intensify our focus on Milwaukee charter and choice schools, IFF added Milwaukee Community Initiatives Director Heather Heaviland to our Wisconsin staff. Heather is working specifically on charter and choice school finance, development, policy and research. IFF has also extended its research on the distribution of performing schools in urban school districts to Milwaukee. In May of 2010, we released Choosing Performance: An Analysis of School Location and Performance in Milwaukee, which analyzed the performance, location, and enrollment of Milwaukee Public Schools, charter schools and certain private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in 2008-2009. You can access the full report and other resources at Milwaukee: Choosing Performance.
Please click here to browse an interactive map of our loans and real estate projects in Milwaukee. A few highlights include:
Seeds of Health, Veritas High School, Milwaukee
IFF has loaned $1.25 million to expand Veritas High School, part of the Seeds of Health charter school network, and provided real estate consulting services to help the agency locate, evaluate, and secure new homes for the middle and virtual schools. The 6,600 square-foot Veritas addition will allow 70 more students to join the top-ranked school. The new middle school space will accommodate 160 more students and the virtual campus will provide 300 students with an alternative to the traditional classroom setting. IFF’s financing for Veritas has been combined with funds from PAVE, a Milwaukee advocate for education. The Walton Family Foundation contributed funds to both the Veritas project and IFF’s real estate consulting services.
Community Advocates, Milwaukee
IFF supported Community Advocates’ growth goals with a $1 million loan when financing for a new, larger space they were purchasing came to a halt due to their bank’s loan-to-value limits. IFF’s loan was critical to filling in the gap and completing the transaction. A partnership between CA, Town Bank, and IFF led to the acquisition and build-out of a new CA headquarters that will open in 2011.
"Everyone knows that this is a very difficult lending environment especially for nonprofits taking on large capital projects. This project could not have gone forward without IFF's unique understanding of how nonprofits are financed and how we pursue our mission.” —Joe Volk, Executive Director, Community Advocates
McAuley Apartments / St. Catherine Residence, Milwaukee IFF provided a 17-year, $900,000 first mortgage, part of a financing that included tax credits and grant funding that enabled St. Catherine to build McAuley Apartments, creating 46 small units at affordable rents adjacent to the agency’s original building. Renting at McAuley enables women to move toward independence while staying connected to the warm, supportive community St. Catherine offers its residents. For more information about this project, please click here.
“[IFF] had experience working with and financing nonprofits, and they were willing to be flexible.” —Lynne Oehlke, President, St. Catherine Residence
Wisconsin Borrowers
Center for Veterans Issues
Community Advocates, Inc.
Heartland Housing, Inc.
Hope Lutheran School, Inc.
Housing Resources, Inc.
Independent Living
La Causa
Lisbon Terrace, LLC
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin
and Upper Michigan
To learn more about our work in Wisconsin or to discuss our services, please call Lanie Wasserman at 414 248 0673.
You can find directions to IFF's Wisconsin office on the Contact Us page.
Please click here to download a print-ready overview of IFF’s Wisconsin Loan Program.