In early July,
Greater Fort Wayne (GFW) Inc. and
Brightpoint Development Fund held a luncheon for Allen County leaders in search of new solutions to help close financial gaps in the county.
Their focus was on helping community leaders understand the role
Community Development Financial Institutions, also known as CDFIs, play a role in increasing financial stability and growth in Fort Wayne.
CDFIs, which are funded in part by the US Department of the Treasury, provide financing to individuals and small business owners who are largely underserved by traditional financial institutions. Getting approved for a loan is a stressful task, especially for individuals and small business owners who are experiencing financial hardships, poor credit or limited capital, but CDFIs work to increase access to financial products and services for the benefit of the local community and economy and include a variety of entities such as banks, credit unions, loan funds, and venture capital funds.
Recently,
CDFI Friendly America, a nonprofit organization tracking CDFI growth and opportunities in the United States, designated Fort Wayne as a CDFI desert. These deserts occur in areas where the need for CDFI funding is greater than the access to financing. Both Fort Wayne and Allen County are considered CDFI deserts.
Currently, Fort Wayne has three CDFIs: Brightpoint Development Fund,
Fort Financial Federal Credit Union and
Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union.
“We have parts of the population here in Fort Wayne that have been systematically left behind — and this is not a new issue, but we could come up with new solutions,” says Matt Crouch, vice president of community economic development at Brightpoint.
![]()
At an event on July 9, 2025, Matt Crouch, vice president of community economic development at Brightpoint, talks to community leaders about CDFIs.Approximately 100 city and county officials, local banks, credit unions, CDFIs and philanthropic foundations attended the event to spark a conversation about filling the gaps in Fort Wayne’s economy.
Through collaborations between local leaders and organizations, GFW Inc. and the Brightpoint Development Fund hope to deploy $10 million in CDFI funding by 2026 and $25 million by 2031.
“This event was really about creating the foundation,” Crouch explains. “‘These are the ways that we can work together,’ and then creating the open invitation of, ‘If this is something you want to do please let’s talk about it.’’’
The Brightpoint Development Fund is currently the largest CDFI in Northeast Indiana and provides financing for local small-business owners in need of financial assistance. The fund helps them get access to capital in instances where traditional lending institutions would normally not take on the risk. Brightpoint also provides technical assistance for businesses and individuals, which includes financial coaching, strategies for budgeting and technical assistance.
Brightpoint joined the CDFI program in 2012 and its work is governed by the Brightpoint board, which identifies target areas and gaps that the Development Fund needs to fill. Currently, these gaps include mortgage assistance, affordable housing, multifamily housing, community facilities, commercial real estate and business loans exceeding $250,000.
“Our whole goal is not to compete with financial institutions but to fill this gap and then ensure that [if] these businesses need future capital [later on], they’re ready and they’re able to go to those larger financial institutions,” Crouch says.
![]()
Matt Crouch, vice president of community economic development at Brightpoint, talks to community leaders about CDFIs.Unlike traditional financing institutions, which follow certain requirements to ensure that they remain successful and mitigate risk, CDFIs are able to take on additional risk for the benefit of underserved communities and individuals. In turn, those seeking financial assistance and loans are able to receive them at an affordable rate and enter into the financial mainstream
more easily
. This means individuals who have experienced financial disparity have more opportunities to receive needed financial services.
For Brightpoint, this means addressing financial inequality head-on.
“Brightpoint’s mission is to help with those causes and conditions of poverty,” Crouch explains. “We’re going to take on even more risk because we know the value of supporting those individuals with their dreams and helping that to become a reality.”
On a similar note, Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union offers financial products and services to its Fort Wayne members. As a CDFI, Urban Beginnings Choice provides services, including savings accounts, Smart-E loans, vehicle service agreements and credit card services, to low income communities in the area.
“We’re able to provide that loan where other financial institutions will not because we are a CDFI,” says
Chief Executive Officer Diane Starks. “We provide that access to capital to high risk individuals [who] would not be able to get those loans from other financial institutions.”
Because of its status as a CDFI, Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union makes meaningful impacts on its members' lives. Frequently, they has provided vehicle loans for people with previous repossessions, ensuring that the individual has a source of transportation they can use to commute to a job and bring in income for their family. Like Brightpoint, they also provide financial literacy courses for members and students in the area.
“The financial literacy course can allow you to restart and understand some tools that can allow you to have better financial stability within your household,” says Starks.
Currently, 60% of the dollars Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union receives from the CDFI program go back into underserved areas in Fort Wayne, specifically into the southeast part of the city.
The projected increase in CDFI funding will allow UBCFCU to reach more individuals in need, says Starks.
GFW Inc., while not a CDFI, does support Fort Wayne’s CDFI organizations, by bringing awareness to the program and assisting the CDFI organizations financially, ensuring that they have the funds they need to provide their financial products services.
“[Our job] has been really working with Brightpoint on the awareness side and helping them find the reserve dollars to set aside, just in case there is any potential issue with any of the loans moving forward,” says John Urbahns, president and chief executive officer at GFW Inc.
![]()
Leaders from financial institutions discuss the importance of CDFIs at a luncheon.He says hosting the luncheon with Brightpoint was part of their awareness efforts.
“We're going to stay involved with Brightpoint, working on continuing to build out that loan loss reserve and helping them on the fundraising side, [and we will] continue to help them build awareness because that's something we have the ability to do,” explains Urbahns. “So they're helping us. We're helping them. It's a community effort.”
This story is made possible by Brightpoint.