New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund

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The New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities (HFHC) Fund is an innovative financing program, established to facilitate the development of healthy food markets in underserved communities throughout New York. The $30 million fund is part of a statewide initiative to promote healthy communities.

LIIF, The Reinvestment Fund and The Food Trust are partnering to meet the financing needs of food markets in underserved communities, which often cannot obtain conventional financing for infrastructure costs and credit needs.

Fund participants can obtain financing for capital projects and related predevelopment activities, including real estate acquisition, construction or rehabilitation, leasehold improvements, equipment and infrastructure. (Working capital, inventory and workforce development funds are not available.)

Eligibility

The HFHC Fund can assist for-profit, nonprofit or cooperative food markets that are located in underserved areas in New York State. An underserved area satisfies both of the following criteria:

  • Low- or moderate-income census tract (or a food market site with a customer base of 50% or more living in a low-income census tract)*
  • Census tract with below average food market density

As outlined in the Program Guidelines, projects must also accept SNAP benefits and WIC (with some exceptions), meet minimum retail square footage criteria and achieve at least three additional goals to be considered for financing. The Program Guidelines are available in the Application, Overview & Guidelines section below.

* Please use the Household Income Map to determine if a particular address falls within a low- or moderate-income census tract.

Household Income Map

The Household Income Map can help determine if a particular address falls within a low- or moderate-income census tract.

Please note that a low- or moderate-income address does not guarantee project funding through the HFHC Fund; many additional factors, such as food market density, will be considered during the eligibility review. Further, a project that does not fall within a low- or moderate-income area but whose customer base lives primarily in low-income census tracts is encouraged to apply.

Application, Overview & Guidelines

Interested in obtaining financing for a food market in an underserved New York community? Download the HFHC Fund Pre-Application (Part 1) below and send the completed form to the Low Income Investment Fund’s New York office or the email address listed at right.

Downloads
Fund Overview & Basic Loan Terms
Program Guidelines
Pre-Application (Part 1)
Application (Part 2)

Projects

Through the New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund, LIIF supports healthy food market operators across the state.
Examples of Healthy Food Projects

HFHC Fund News

02.27.12
Supermarket News
FRESH Starts in New York City

11.23.11
Staten Island Advance
It’s a breath of FRESH air as supermarket breaks ground

11.21.11
LIIF Joins Mayor Bloomberg at Staten Island Grocery Ground Breaking

11.20.11
examiner.com
Latino owners open supermarket and help create jobs in Highland Falls, New York

10.28.11
Mid-Hudson Valley Community Celebrates New Supermarket & New Jobs

12.16.10
Press & Sun-Bulletin
Download article “Conklin Reliable Market Receives Grant”

12.16.10
Governor Paterson Announces First Grant Recipient for New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund

11.15.10
Supermarket News
NY Retailers Explore Food Desert Options


09.29.10
Governor Paterson Launches Public-Private Partnership to Expand Grocery Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods


12.16.09
Governor Paterson Announces Administrators for Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative

Partners

The partners also gratefully acknowledge Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, which provided significant pro bono legal services to establish the fund.