Northeast Delta Dental Invests $1 Million in Community Loan Fund
by Steve Varnum
on May 1, 2024
Mission-related investment will support affordable homeownership
Northeast Delta Dental, a not-for-profit insurance company based in Concord, has invested $1 million in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.
Delta Dental’s investment will bolster and extend the Community Loan Fund’s affordable homeownership solutions. Those include mortgages for manufactured homes, including for people with low incomes, and ROC-NH, which helps secure affordable homes through cooperative ownership of manufactured-home communities.
Its Welcome Home Loan mortgage program, in particular, is bucking the national trend of declining mortgage applications. In part that’s because owning a manufactured home in a resident-owned community is now the most affordable housing option — including renting an apartment — in most of N.H.
Many studies have shown that secure homeownership is a major determinant of health. Similarly, research points to good oral health affecting overall health and wellness. Northeast Delta Dental’s investment in the Community Loan Fund underscores their advocacy for a holistic approach to health for the overall well being of a community.
In 2023, the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company, donated $592,670 in grants to organizations in NH to promote good oral health. Beyond oral health initiatives, it provided over $580,000 of support to 300-plus organizations that address important societal issues such as food insecurity, mental health, education, homelessness, youth services, and disease research.
“Supporting the increase of access to oral health care makes sense for us for obvious reasons, but I believe that we have a responsibility to also contribute to organizations that are addressing social issues beyond the industry that we work in, to better our community,” explained Tom Raffio, President and CEO, Northeast Delta Dental. “Lack of affordable housing is one of the greatest challenges we face in our state and it’s important we do what we can to support our community.”
Community Loan Fund President and CEO Steve Saltzman said, “Investments like Northeast Delta Dental’s are crucial in helping people and families priced out of the market buy and maintain homes they can afford.”
Investments in the Community Loan Fund pay fixed-rate interest and are loaned to, and on behalf of, people, families, and communities with low and moderate incomes statewide. Its oldest and best-known program, ROC-NH, has helped residents of 149 manufactured-home (mobile home) parks cooperatively purchase and run them as resident-owned communities (ROCs).
The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund turns investments into loans and education to create opportunity and transform lives across New Hampshire. We collaborate with a wide range of donors and lenders, and with business, nonprofit and government partners, to provide the financing and support people need to own homes, have quality jobs and child care, and become financially independent.
Northeast Delta Dental administers dental benefits in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, offering dental insurance programs for businesses and not-for-profits of all sizes, and individuals and families with no access to employer-sponsored dental benefits.