Banks Provide $750K Subsidy to Build 76 Homes for Homeless Individuals

Frost Bank and FHLB Dallas Award the Funds to Austin, Texas, Nonprofit

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The second phase of an Austin, Texas, master-planned community will get underway, thanks, in part, to a $750,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) subsidy. The funds from Frost Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) were awarded to Mobile Loaves & Fishes to help build 76 homes as part of the second phase of Community First! Village, a 51-acre master-planned community designed specifically for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness.

Mobile Loaves & Fishes started more than 20 years ago as an outreach ministry to Austin’s homeless population. It soon expanded to include housing, and now serves more than 200 formerly homeless individuals through its innovative Community First! Village. The second phase of the village will consist of microhomes and park model RVs for its residents.

“As a nonprofit organization, Mobile Loaves & Fishes relies on contributions and donations for construction projects and ongoing operations,” said Amber Fogarty, president of Mobile Loaves & Fishes. “Without the subsidy, the project would have been delayed or could have been reduced in size, limiting our impact on Austin’s homeless population.”

Ms. Fogarty added that the overall second phase expansion of Community First! Village will provide 310 homes, seven outdoor community kitchen buildings, and seven laundry, restroom and shower facilities. The project is expected to be complete in late 2023.

“Frost Bank has used the AHP many times to provide much-needed funding to organizations like Mobile Loaves & Fishes that are working to create tremendous impacts in communities such as Austin,” said Donna Normandin, senior vice president and CRA officer at Frost Bank.

AHP funds are intended to assist FHLB Dallas members in financing the purchase, construction and/or rehabilitation of owner-occupied, rental or transitional housing and housing for homeless individuals. AHP funds must be used to benefit households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income for the area.

In 2020, FHLB Dallas awarded $19.3 million in subsidies to 38 affordable housing projects. The subsidies will help create 2,749 new or rehabilitated housing units. Included in that total is almost $10.2 million in subsidies for 1,475 units of housing in Texas.

Since the AHP’s inception in 1990, FHLB Dallas has awarded more than $323 million in AHP and Homeownership Set-Aside Programs and has assisted more than 57,000 households.

“Community First! Village would not be possible without the support of AHP, which is often used as a source of gap funding,” said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. “It’s an honor to work with our member, Frost Bank, to assist Mobile Loaves & Fishes.”

For more information about AHP, visit fhlb.com/ahp.

About Frost Bank

Frost is the banking, investments and insurance subsidiary of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE: CFR), a financial holding company with $40.1 billion in assets at September 30, 2020. One of the 60 largest U.S. banks by asset size, Frost provides a full range of banking, investments and insurance services to businesses and individuals in the Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Permian Basin, Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio regions. Founded in 1868, Frost has helped Texans with their financial needs during three centuries. For more information, visit frostbank.com.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $64.9 billion as of December 31, 2020, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit our website at fhlb.com.