Investments in TRF Outperform S&P Over Past 10 Years

“When you invest with TRF you make more than money. You make a difference. The financial return is modest, but the social return is enormous.” In its brochures to investors, TRF has never promised big financial returns. That said – a $1,000,000 investment in the S&P ten years ago (assuming no fees and calculated on a simple price appreciation basis) would leave you with $734,452 today. With the same investment in TRF, you’d have more than $1,218,994 today – as well as homes, jobs, and educational opportunities in our communities; in fact those who invested in TRF back then are earning at a rate much higher than this conservative 2% comparison. We thank you for investing in TRF and particularly those of you who are increasing investments in these tough times.

TRF Helps NJ and PA Add Rigor to their NSP Spending Decisions

Pennsylvania and New Jersey state governments turned to TRF to embed more rigorous data and analytical tools into their Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) plans. Together these two state governments were eligible to apply for use of roughly $110 million of the $3.97 billion of NSP resources that are part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Recognizing that each state is working still with too little money to do everything everywhere HUD deemed eligible, TRF created a more data-rich, interactive tool for understanding where interventions could most stabilize local markets. Both states are offering TRF’s tools to all their potential local applicants to apply this same rigor to their local plans. These tools can also be used to assess the community impact of these dollars after they are deployed.

TRF Remains the Reliable Source of Capital for Charter Schools, Adding North Star Academy in Newark to TRF's Charter School Portfolio

TRF's charter school lending portfolio had grown to $165.7 million, with loans to 53 schools across the mid-Atlantic, serving close to 27,000 students. Among the newest additions to TRF's portfolio is the widely acclaimed North Star Academy in Newark, New Jersey. A school with over 75% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, North Star was one of New Jersey’s first charter schools and consistently among its highest performing, with 100% of its high school graduates enrolling in colleges across the country. TRF and the Methodist General Board of Pensions participated on this New Markets Tax Credit transaction led by the Low Income Investment Fund, with North Star’s charter management organization, Uncommon Schools providing the necessary sub-debt.

PolicyMap adds New Data and Functionality

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and several of TRF’s peer CDFIs have recently joined the more than 10,000 other users and subscribers of PolicyMap to take advantage of the newest datasets and increasingly sophisticated reports and functionality. Most recent traffic has been high from new visitors from entitlement communities competing for HUD resources as well as those drawn to recently uploaded data regarding the uninsured and unemployed. During tough times, PolicyMap is proving to be an efficient and robust tool for planning and proposal development. You can now even embed maps you have created on your own site. Check it out.

TRF's Ira Goldstein Appointed to Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council

Early this month, TRF hosted new member of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors, Elizabeth Duke, and members of the board of the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia on a tour of TRF investment in West Philadelphia. The tour followed a presentation of West Philadelphia through TRF's PolicyMap, where attendees were given a glimpse of socio-economic conditions in the neighborhood. As part of the tour, Governor Duke and other attendees learned about the PA Fresh Food Financing Initiative while visiting a TRF-financed ShopRite supermarket. They also visited the TRF-financed Mastery Charter School - Shoemaker, a successful turnaround of a district middle school.