Northern CaliforniaEquitable Resilience FundPut community investment to work.
Connect capital, expertise, and local priorities to help Northern California communities prepare, adapt, and thrive.
Discuss a community investment partnership →Local needs. Practical opportunities.
NCERF welcomes financial institutions seeking meaningful ways to support the resilience and economic well-being of the communities they serve. We are developing a community-focused project pipeline that connects local needs with project planning, technical expertise, and potential funding partners.
Our focus includes reducing household utility burdens, improving access to reliable energy and water infrastructure, strengthening community facilities, and expanding local opportunity.
Community priorities
Start with residents, community organizations, and local partners to understand needs and barriers.
Project readiness
Develop scopes, budgets, partner roles, and potential funding approaches as opportunities take shape.
Measurable benefit
Define intended beneficiaries and meaningful outcomes, then build reporting into the partnership.
Community development with resilience in mind.
For banks, certain activities may support Community Reinvestment Act objectives when they meet applicable requirements, including the community development purpose, beneficiaries, and geography. Environmental benefits alone do not establish CRA eligibility.
Affordable homes & household resilience
Explore improvements connected to affordable housing and low- and moderate-income households, including energy affordability, healthier indoor conditions, and utility-burden reduction.
Community facilities & infrastructure
Consider reliable energy, water, and resilience improvements for facilities and services benefiting eligible communities and households.
Local economic opportunity
Explore projects supporting qualifying small-business and community economic development, with clear connections to local needs.
Recovery & place-based investment
Discuss disaster recovery and revitalization or stabilization opportunities in qualifying areas, supported by project-specific evidence.
Build the right partnership for the project.
Potential relationships include grants for planning and community benefit, technical assistance, staff expertise, and financing partnerships with qualified providers. More complex capital structures can be explored as projects and organizational capacity develop.
We also welcome credit unions, CDFIs, and other mission-aligned institutions. Their community investment goals may differ from the CRA requirements applicable to banks.
Share your priorities
Tell us about your service area, community development goals, preferred partnership types, and timing.
Explore project fit
Review community needs, intended beneficiaries, readiness, and the roles each partner could play.
Agree on documentation
As opportunities develop, identify the project narrative, geography, eligibility evidence, budget, use of funds, and reporting needed for your review.
CRA consideration is determined through the applicable regulatory review. Each institution should assess opportunities with its compliance team and regulator. NCERF does not guarantee CRA credit for any grant, loan, investment, or activity.
Learn more: OCC Community Reinvestment Act resources.
Let’s build what comes next.
Tell us about your organization, the communities you serve, and the kind of partnership you have in mind.
Send a partnership inquiry →