Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) today announced the successful closing of a $22 million investment in Atlanta’s Mercy Care, a federally qualified health center and Atlanta’s only healthcare for the homeless program. According to Mercy Care, 77 percent of its patients are uninsured and 64 percent live below the poverty line.
The investment will support renovation of Mercy Care’s headquarters building, expansion of clinic space and the construction of a new facility adjacent to their headquarters to provide office space and future additional clinic space. The new facility, located in the Old Fourth Ward, will enable Mercy Care to double their patient intake and allow more patients to have access to paired medical and behavioral care.
The project will also bring on-site a new resource center that will address the social determinants of health and help provide access to housing, workforce development, food benefits and legal assistance, making access to these resources easier for patients. The new facilities also serve as a catalyst for the creation of additional affordable housing adjacent to the new medical complex.
"We are proud to be a leader in the creation of another home-health model, similar to what we have at our Mercy Care Chamblee medical facility," said Tom Andrews, CEO of Mercy Care. "We are grateful to Truist for the investment; a vital part of our funding for our Decatur Street medical facility expansion. Coupled with the 270 units of affordable housing next door, which is sorely needed in our community, we will be able to better support fragile patients experiencing homelessness or facing other barriers to access."
The $22 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction included $6.5 million of tax credit equity from Truist Community Capital, a $9.6 million Truist bridge loan and a $200,000 charitable grant from Truist Foundation.
"Our purpose at Truist is to inspire and build better lives and communities, and this latest investment in some of our most vulnerable populations here in Atlanta exemplifies that purpose in action," said Jenna Kelly, Truist regional president for Georgia. "This is a terrific partnership, and I commend our teammates at Truist and partners at Mercy Care and CSH who were able to see this through the finish line.”
Truist's three-year, $300 million Atlanta Investment initiative includes a mix of programs and grants tailored to the diverse needs of the Atlanta community. It includes a combination of community development and tax credit investments from the bank as well as philanthropic grants from the Truist Foundation.
The NMTC investment was facilitated through a critical partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) which provided $16 million in NMTC allocation as part of the project financing. CHS is a New York-based Community Development Entity with a mission of advancing solutions for housing and services that improve the lives of the most vulnerable people, maximize public resources and build healthy communities.
The NMTC program, established by Congress in December of 2000, is designed to attract private-sector capital investment into the nation's urban and rural low-income areas. As part of the program, Truist is positioned to provide loans and investments with reduced interest rates and/ or non-traditional terms and conditions to support community development projects that stimulate economic growth and create quality job, education and wellness opportunities for underserved populations.
