The Community Foundation of North Central Washington (CFNCW) recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the Wildrose Multifamily Affordable Housing project in Winthrop, WA. The event, held in partnership with the Housing Authority of Okanogan County (HAOC), also marked the first repayment through CFNCW’s Access to Rural Capital (ARC) loan program.

(L) Beth Stipe, CFNCW Executive Director and (R) Nancy Nash-Méndez, HAOC Executive Director, hold the ARC loan repayment check during the groundbreaking for the Wildrose Multifamily Affordable Housing project in Winthrop, WA.

Although the Housing Authority had successfully secured $8.5 million in state funding, they could not access the funds until the design, permitting, and bidding process was complete. A gap of $200,000 stood in the way, risking the loss of the already-awarded grants for the project’s construction.

ARC provided the necessary funds to bridge the gap.

“The ARC Loan Program came to the rescue at the right time, and we are happy to say that we successfully broke ground on October 23^rd. Our hope is that we will have 22 new families calling Wildrose ‘home’ by the spring of 2028,” says Nancy Nash-Méndez, the Executive Director of HAOC.

The vision for the ARC program is seeing communities thrive throughout Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties by providing access to low-cost capital that may otherwise be out of reach. These short-term loans help local projects unlock additional investment for long-term community benefit. HAOC is one of five inaugural loan recipients. The short-term bridge loan the agency received served as the catalyst to fill the pre-development financing gap they experienced during the development of Wildrose.

“The Community Foundation Board of Trustees has doubled down on their commitment to the people of North Central Washington,” says Beth Stipe, the Community Foundation’s Executive Director. “Their leadership in establishing and funding the Impact Investing Program and ARC Loans creates new opportunities for rural, often overlooked, community projects to have access to critical capital.  The ability to leverage local dollars into jobs, housing, infrastructure and community enhancements is something CFNCW is excited to advance with our nonprofit partners.”

The Impact Investing Program at CFNCW was created as a key initiative of the Foundation’s Strategic Plan. Thanks to the generosity of CFNCW donors, the Foundation has committed $3 million in unrestricted funding to launch the program. Applications and program criteria were intentionally designed to provide nonprofit partners with easy access to low-cost and straightforward short-term loans. The Foundation hopes to engage additional donors as the program grows.

Learn more about how CFNCW’s Impact Investing and the ARC loan program are helping build stronger communities at cfncw.org/impactinvesting.