Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic Investment in Washington

On June 11th, 2020, Opportunity Fund, the lending arm of Accion Opportunity Fund, announced the closing of $9.6 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (“YVFWC”), a non-profit, Federally Qualified Health Center, or FQHC, in partnership with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation and Bank of America.

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing will support the construction of a new 40,000 square foot community health clinic in Kennewick, Washington. The new facility will serve low-income and/or uninsured residents in the Tri-Cities area (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland).

YVFWC’s primary mission is to serve low-income populations, and a third of YVFWC’s patient population consists of seasonal or migrant workers. For the past ten years, YVFWC has served the Tri-Cities out of a small medical clinic (two physicians and two mid-levels) in Pasco. However, YVFWC’s Pasco clinic only serves a fraction of the demand for healthcare services in the Tri-Cities area.

The project will create or retain 76 full-time equivalent permanent jobs, including 46 for low-income individuals. YVFWC estimates the new clinic will provide care to 12,360 unique patients per year across over 53,000 patient visits.

The Impact

People Served

• 12,360 projected unique individuals served annually (80% low income and 76% minorities)

Jobs Created:

• 76 FTE permanent jobs projected to be created or retained (including 46 for low-income individuals), all paying living wages and receiving benefits
• 80 projected construction jobs (including 56 for low-income individuals)

Funding of the new YVFWC facility reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting low-income communities with inadequate access to fundamental services (healthcare, nutrition, education, temporary shelter, etc.).

We have provided more than $377 million in NMTC investments to help finance the construction or rehabilitation of 31 community facilities or Native American jobs projects, including community health centers, homeless services facilities, at-risk youth projects, and three phases of a Native American forest and salmon fishery restoration project. Since inception, our projects have created, retained, or supported 7,231 jobs (3,520 low-income jobs) and currently serve 420,087 low-income clients annually.

If you are interested in learning more about the Opportunity Fund’s New Markets Tax Credit Program, please reach out to Marissa Meir at MMeir@OpportunityFund.org.