A Little About Us
Our Story
Cook Inlet Lending Center, Inc. (CILC), formerly known as NaQenq’a, was created in 2001 as a social enterprise of Cook Inlet Housing Authority to address the need for affordable home financing and development services in the Cook Inlet Region of Alaska (CIRI). Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA), founded in 1974, is an affordable housing operator and developer that serves low- and moderate-income individuals and families who experience a lack of access to affordable housing.
In 2004, CILC was certified as a Native-owned Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) through the U.S. Department of the Treasury CDFI Fund. CDFIs are private financial institutions that are 100% dedicated to increasing access to affordable lending products, services, and financial education for low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities. By helping people build credit, buy homes, access affordable consumer credit, and start businesses, CDFIs support the financial health of underserved communities.
In the years since our founding and CDFI certification, CILC has grown into a homeownership and small business center with the capacity to lend to our communities and families of all races, nationalities and income backgrounds within the state of Alaska.
Our Products
Since 2001, CILC has been known as a homeownership center with the capacity to lend to our communities and families of all races, nationalities and income backgrounds within the state of Alaska. In 2020, CILC launched a small business loan program to support community development in our commercial corridors and especially in low-income neighborhoods. We partner with Anchorage Community Land Trust to offer microloans to businesses in their Set Up Shop program, which provides training, business services, and real estate support to entrepreneurs in underserved communities.
CILC has an innovative, customer focused approach to our services. We support borrowers with one on one homeownership counseling, financial education, credit counseling, and technical assistance.
We offer a range of products to meet borrowers' specific needs:
- HUD-184 loans, FHA loans, VA loans, and conventional mortgages (offered through a brokerage partnership with Chickasaw Community Bank, located in Oklahoma City)
- Down Payment Assistance Loans
- Alaska Native/American Indian Individual Development Account Program
- Homestart and Native American Housing Initiative (“NAHI”) Grants
- Microloans (up to $50,000), offered in partnership with Anchorage Community Land Trust’s Set Up Shop program
- General small business loans (up to $250,000)
Mission
Cook Inlet Lending Center invests in traditionally underserved people and communities, offering equitable access to affordable financial products and services that facilitate homeownership, strengthen local businesses, and build resilient neighborhoods. As a Native CDFI, CILC vigorously pursues opportunities to financially empower Alaska Native families, businesses, and communities.
Vision
CILC’s vision is the achievement of stable, healthy and independent Alaskan families and communities throughout the CIRI region, where all residents have access to safe, affordable and adequate housing and the resources they need to pursue and achieve prosperity. CILC's vision is achieved through the development and deployment of affordable housing financing products, affordable small business capital, and related development services.
Values
As a subsidiary of CIHA, we have shared core values; they are: Compassion, Innovation, Honesty, and Accountability
C. I. H. A.