CONNECTICUT ORGANIZATION NAMED AS SEMI-FINALIST FOR MULTIMILLION- DOLLAR “WACHOVIA NEXT AWARD FOR OPPORTUNITY FINANCE”

Local Organization Eyed for “Transformational” Award Offered by The
Wachovia Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and Opportunity Finance
Network; Winners to Receive $8.25 Million.


STAMFORD, CT///October 2, 2007///The Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has selected Stamford, CT-based Housing Development Fund as a semifinalist to be one of two U.S. community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that will share in $8.25 million in grants and awards from an unprecedented new awards program offered by the Opportunity Finance Network and sponsored by The Wachovia Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Housing Development Fund manages public/private partnerships to lend funds for affordable housing initiatives.

The recipients of the Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance will be named in December 2007 in Miami. A distinguished national committee will choose among the semi-finalists to select two premier CDFI organizations to receive $8.25 million in grants and investments. Financing provided by community-based CDFIs allows nonprofits and entrepreneurs to build and preserve affordable housing, help small businesses grow, and develop new community facilities, such as schools, health clinics and centers for child care, recreation and culture.

Mark Pinsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based Opportunity Finance Network, said: “Housing Development Fund embodies the type of high-potential CDFI that the Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance was designed to propel to a next level of growth, success, and staying power with a major onetime infusion of capital.”

Housing Development Fund President and CEO Joan Carty said, “We are honored tohave been selected as a semi-finalist in the review process for the Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance. This recognizes our hard work in the community and our efforts to bring opportunity finance to people and neighborhoods that might not otherwise benefit from it. This award would help take to the next level Housing Development Fund’s ability to make a significant positive impact on affordable housing and homeownership.”

“At The Wachovia Foundation, we're committed to supporting organizations like Housing Development Fund that are creating positive change in their communities,” said Mike Rizer, executive vice president for The Wachovia Foundation. “We're proud to continue our long-standing support for the opportunity finance industry with our investment in the NEXT awards, which will help innovative, up-and-coming CDFIs grow and create even more economic opportunity for families and communities."

“These awards celebrate the impressive achievements of CDFIs and the creative way they use capital, business acumen, and community-oriented solutions to bring greater economic security and opportunity to people of modest means,” said Debra Schwartz, director of program-related investments for the MacArthur Foundation. “Our $25-million commitment to these new awards marks a turning point. It is a capstone investment to help launch the next era of achievement, growth and impact for the entire opportunity finance industry.”

Over the course of five years, The Wachovia Foundation is making a $16.75 million grant and the MacArthur Foundation is making a $25 million low-cost, long-term loan called a program-related investment to fund the Wachovia NEXT Awards.

ABOUT OPPORTUNITY FINANCE & CDFIs
The Wachovia Foundation, MacArthur and the Opportunity Finance Network created this awards program to spotlight and reinforce the growing – but underappreciated – role of CDFIs in the U.S. economy. Ultimately, the three partners expect more investors, policymakers, and talented young leaders will discover the innovative field of opportunity finance and help raise its scale and impact significantly.

More than 700 mission-driven banks, loan funds, credit unions, and venture funds currently serve low-income and low-wealth people and communities that some mainstream investors consider too risky or difficult to reach. CDFI financing allows entrepreneurs and nonprofits to build and preserve affordable housing, to help small businesses grow, and to develop new sites for recreation, cultural programs, schools, health clinics, childcare centers and more. Many CDFIs provide mortgages, banking accounts, car loans, money transfers, and other services that help customers gain financial literacy, build savings and avoid expensive or predatory financial products. During 2005 alone, CDFIs provided $4.3 billion in new financing which yielded: 39,151 jobs in 9,074 businesses; 55,242 units of affordable housing; 613 community facilities such as charter schools, childcare and health care centers; and 138,045 low-income people opening their first bank accounts, according to the CDFI Data Project.

ABOUT THE AWARDS
Each year the Wachovia NEXT Awards will include:

A $5.5 million program-related investment and unrestricted grant award to anoutstanding, high-potential CDFI with over $50 million in assets dedicated to lending or investing;

A $2.75 million program-related investment and unrestricted grant award to an outstanding, high-potential CDFI with $10-$50 million in assets dedicated to lending or investing; and

Four $25,000 unrestricted grant awards to CDFIs of any size that have demonstrated excellence in Innovation, Advocacy, Financing, and Community Impact.

CDFIs seeking to apply for a Wachovia NEXT Award had to meet all of the eligibility requirements detailed at the Wachovia NEXT Awards Web site: http://www.nextawards.org. These include: a primary mission of community development; demonstrated financial discipline and programmatic performance; and an increasing volume of lending or investing activity and positive net revenue. The winning organizations will be CDFIs with a history of outstanding accomplishment, a bold and compelling vision, extraordinary future potential for growth, innovation and impact, and a high degree of readiness to successfully use and leverage a large, flexible investment.

ABOUT HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND
The Housing Development Fund was founded in 1989 to provide an array of affordable housing solutions. It has expanded to serve all of southwestern Connecticut from its Stamford headquarters and a Danbury office opened in 2004. The organization manages public/private partnerships to lend funds for affordable housing initiatives. It has the largest public/private pool of mortgage financing for affordable housing in Connecticut – both homeownership and multi-family development - $60 million. HDF’s multi-familylending program encourages the development of affordable for-sale and rental units. HDF provides nonprofits and private developers of affordable units with a variety of finance and technical assistance options. The organization’s First Time Homebuyers Program provides both education and financial assistance to qualified buyers. HDF is a HUD-certified lender and Housing Counseling agency.

The Housing Development Fund, Inc. has its headquarters at 100 Prospect Street, South Tower Plaza, Suite SP-101, Stamford, Connecticut 06901. It also maintains an office at 8 West Street, Suite 202-204, Danbury, Connecticut 06810.

ABOUT THE GROUPS BEHIND THE AWARDS
The Wachovia Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to eligible 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations in two primary focus areas (education and community development) and two secondary areas (health and human services, arts and culture). The Foundation’s mission is to build strong and vibrant communities, improve the quality of life, and make a positive difference.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking institution helping to build a more just and sustainable world. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, strengthens institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media. MacArthur has been a leading supporter of the opportunity finance field since the early 1980s, investing almost a quarter of a billion dollars in approximately 100 groups nationwide. With assets of more than $6.4 billion, the Foundation makes approximately $225 million in grants annually. More information is available at www.macfound.org.

Opportunity Finance Network is the leading network of private financial intermediaries identifying and investing in opportunities to benefit low-income and low-wealth people in the U.S. The network’s financing delivers both sound financial returns and real changes for people and communities. CDFIs in the Opportunity Finance Network originated more than $11 billion in financing in unconventional urban, rural, and reservation-based markets through 2005. This has generated or maintained 171,146 jobs; 35,451 businesses; 484,943 housing units; and, 5,153 community facility projects. With cumulative net charge-off rates of less than 1 percent, these CDFIs have demonstrated that it is possible to lend prudently and productively in unconventional markets often overlooked by conventional financial institutions. More information about Opportunity Finance Network can be found online at http://www.opportunityfinance.net.

CONTACT: Tami Strauss at 203-969-1830 x19 or visit www.hdf-ct.org and Patrick
Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.