The U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Bond Guarantee Program is making it possible for one of Milwaukee’s leading federally qualified health centers to grow its facilities, reduce its expenses, and expand the critical services it provides in one of the city’s most poverty-stricken neighborhoods.
Outreach Community Health Centers, which has provided health care, housing, and support services to low-income and homeless populations in Milwaukee since 1980, bought the second of the two buildings it currently occupies, paving the way for future growth and gaining stronger financial footing. OCHC now will save an estimated $98,000 annually in lease payments and taxes, allowing it to expand its primary care and other services.
IFF supported the purchase with $3.9 million in financing, $3.2 million of which was a 25-year, fixed-rate loan through the Bond Guarantee Program. This program provides a federal guarantee to certain bond issues that make very long-term, affordable capital available to community development financial institutions like IFF.
In 2015, Outreach Community Health Centers served over 10,000 patients, with 84 percent living below the federal poverty level. With a full-time staff that has grown by nearly 150 percent in just four years, the center has created greater opportunities for services such as women’s health and HIV care.