Wainwright Bank receives
Community Partnership Award

Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston

International Institute of Boston Headquarters, Boston, Massachusetts

Wainwright Bank & Trust Company provided a Community Investment Program (CIP) advance to the International Institute of Boston to fund its acquisition of new headquarters located in downtown Boston. Wainwright was one of the twelve banks selected nationally and was one of the two selected among all the New England member Banks for its community development lending.

The CIP is a potent partnership catalyst, enabling Home Loan Bank members, such as Wainwright, to serve as financing partners to fund affordable-housing and community-development loans to low- and moderate-income families or neighborhoods through housing, jobs, or other benefits. Commercial or economic -development activities qualify for CIP funding when they benefit families earning up to 80 percent of area median income or when the activities are located in low- and moderate-income neightborhoods. Through the CIP, each Federal Home Loan Bank provides credit at rates equal to its own costs of raising the funds.

The International Institute has provided comprehensive services to refugees and immigrants from over 100 countries since 1924. In 1998, more than 7,000 people received services, including employment training, counseling, and assistance with legal, educational, housing, and social issues. Self-sufficiency is the goal for those served, and records show that the majority of the institute’s refugee clients are supporting their families within six months of arrival in the United States.

In 1997, Wainwright Bank & Trust Company was approached by the institute to provide financing for its acquisition of new headquarters located in downtown Boston. Wainwright Bank staff recognized that the low incomes of the institute's clients meet the requirements for CIP funds. This enabled Wainwright Bank to lend the insitutute $5.5 million at a rate that kept debt service payments at a manageable level. In public remarks, Wainwright Bank co-founder Bob Glassman has said, "A thriving democracy must welcome the vitality and hope that newcomers bring." Institute Executive Director Westy Egmont has noted, "Wainwright is a bank invested in Boston and willing to take the right risks that are good for Wainwright and good for the community."

Sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston

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