Investing in People and Places: CommunityWorks

October 2, 2025 – 

Read time: 5 minutes

In the heart of Greenville, South Carolina, OFN member CommunityWorks is investing in people and places through community development finance. For more than a decade, the community development finance institution (CDFI) has provided resources to support small business growth, entrepreneurship, affordable housing, and homeownership, helping to build thriving communities.

In this highlight, the CommunityWorks team shares why they are a community pillar in the Palmetto State.

What makes your organization unique, and how does that help it better serve its community?

CommunityWorks believes that investing in people and places leads to sustainable change. Since our founding in 2008, we have continually evolved to meet the changing needs of our community. We began as the Greenville Housing Fund, transitioned to a CDFI in 2014, and later operated a credit union before partnering with Self-Help Credit Union in 2018.

What makes us unique is our willingness to adapt. Rather than staying stagnant, we are flexible and responsive. Our focus on creating affordable housing opportunities and financing small business owners goes hand-in-hand with building systems of support. Beyond loans, we provide one-on-one business coaching, training, and education to foster sustainability and collective progress.

It’s that ability to evolve and support our clients that has led us to have a $442 million impact in South Carolina serving close to 10,000 people over the last 17 years.

How would you describe your organization to someone new to community development?

CommunityWorks serves as a bridge between capital and communities. We aggregate resources to expand access to small business financing and homeownership — but our role doesn’t stop there.

For small business owners, we combine loan products with financial wellness coaching, credit-building tools, and connections to other entrepreneurial resources. For housing developers, we not only finance affordable housing but also manage down payment assistance programs, host training for faith leaders, and partner with organizations to train emerging developers. We also provide educational opportunities for decision makers to help them better understand affordable housing and innovative solutions.

At its core, our work is based on the belief that no one succeeds alone.

In the past few years, what project or partnership do you feel has had the biggest impact on the community you serve? What can you share about the impact and significance of this project or partnership for the client and local community?

Since 2010, CommunityWorks has partnered with Homes of Hope, the largest nonprofit developer of single-family affordable housing in South Carolina. Together, we have supported the creation of 173 housing units through four projects

Most recently, we financed Lakeview at Berea, a mixed community development with 40 single-family homes, 18 rental units, and 22 homes for sale. Our $3.3 million loan helped make the rental units possible, including 10 homes leased to households earning between 100% and 120% of the area median income.

This 15-year partnership reflects the power of mission alignment and shared commitment in creating safe, affordable housing.

What’s the biggest opportunity to create greater impact that your organization is considering?

Our work in affordable housing has shown us the importance of cultivating the next generation of developers. To meet this need, we partnered with the Urban Land Institute of South Carolina to launch the Real Estate Diversity Initiative (REDI).

In just three years, REDI has graduated 54 emerging developers, and CommunityWorks has already financed three of their projects. Moving forward, we will continue to pair training with financing to ensure these leaders have the tools and resources to succeed in creating and preserving affordable housing.

What is a challenge facing the CDFI industry right now, and how can the industry rise to meet that challenge?

One of the biggest challenges facing the CDFI industry today is uncertainty around funding, resources for small businesses, and the long-term support required to sustain our work.

The path forward requires collaboration. As an industry, we must stand together to advocate for CDFIs and for the people and communities we serve. By working collectively, we can secure the resources needed to continue building stronger, more resilient communities.

We thank CommunityWorks for being a valued OFN member and for the work they have and will continue to do in South Carolina.

Continue to stay up to date on everything CommunityWorks on their social media:

LinkedIn: @CommunityWorks
Facebook: @CommunityWorks
Instagram: @communityworks_sc
Website: https://communityworkscarolina.org
Sign Up for their Newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/1qLBayO

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Tags: CDFI Leadership, Community Development, Impact Investing, Member Highlight, OFN Membership