The non-profit school lender, Building Hope: A Charter School Facilities Fund, plans to expand its real estate servings offering to the western region of the United States by hiring charter school real estate development veteran, Dru Damico.
"Given our 12-year track record we have become one of the most trusted charter school business and investment advisors in the nation. We have successfully worked with public and private partners in many states to develop tailored approaches based on each individual community's needs," said S. Joseph Bruno, President of Building Hope. "Adding Dru to the team provides us with more manpower in the west to create even more quality K-12 education options."
According to the press release given by PR Newswire, the addition of Damico to the ranks of Building Hope can help the organization provide facilities financing, property development and project management services, technical assistance, and back-office business services to high quality public charter schools in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Yahoo News reported that the partnership between the J.A. and Katherine Albertson Foundation (JKAF) and the western regional office of Building Hope in Idaho will still continue in order to expand the charter school market in Idaho. The partnership between JKAF and Building Hope provided $3.5 million in financing to support $12 million in project costs that made it possible for 800 students to attend charter schools over the past two years.
The hiring of Damico comes immediately after the $5 million matching grant of Building Hope to a $5 million grant awarded to Charter Schools Development Corporation (CSDC) under the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) Credit Enhancement for Charter Schools Facilities Program. The CSDC and Building Hope partnership will use the accumulated $10 million loan fund to provide approximately $83.5 million in new private sector financing for urban and rural charter schools serving predominately low-income student populations.
