The Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) was awarded $1,029,000 in highly competitive grant funds this week from the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund).

PCDC was among 284 CDFIs nationwide awarded nearly $189 million in Financial Assistance grants, which enable recipients to increase access to capital in low-income and economically distressed communities.

PCDC’s award is dedicated primarily to spurring strategic, affordable capital investments in California and Los Angeles County in particular. The grant funds will support community-based health care providers’ expansion of care and services in Los Angeles County.

The county — California’s most populous — is home to 57 federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs) that deliver care to over 1 million patients annually.

The balance of PCDC’s award is for investment in Persistent Poverty Counties (PPCs), such as those in Louisiana, where PCDC has been assisting organizations since 2013. PPCs are counties where at least 20 percent of area residents have lived in poverty over the past 30 years.

The CDFI Fund’s innovative programs — which invest federal dollars alongside private sector capital — build CDFIs’ capacity to serve communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services.

“We are proud to be recognized among such outstanding CDFIs, all of them committed to improving the access of resources in underserved communities,” said Anne Dyjak, PCDC Managing Director. “This award provides resources to fund  our mission to transform and expand primary and behavioral health care where it is needed most to achieve health equity.”