3c hapter - Index of
3c hapter - Index of
3c hapter - Index of
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
82 Locavesting<br />
whom traditional fi nancing is out <strong>of</strong> reach. Unlike the big banks,<br />
they don’t have rigid formulas, but take a high- touch approach<br />
to fi nancing. And because their business models are built around<br />
a mission to help underserved populations, they have more fl exibility<br />
than banks to make riskier loans. With traditional community<br />
banking on the endangered list, CDFIs will play an even more<br />
critical role.<br />
“I had been turned down by every bank, but no one ever came<br />
to see me,” recalls Ramsey. “They just looked at my package and<br />
said they’d get back to me, and then I’d get a letter declining the<br />
loan.” Her experience at TRF was different. She met with her loan<br />
<strong>of</strong>fi cer face to face. “They could see my passion and commitment,<br />
and they took a chance,” she says.<br />
This fall, Ramsey plans to open a day- care center in the heart<br />
<strong>of</strong> Philadelphia that will put to use all she has learned in her eight<br />
years running a center for a national chain—her way <strong>of</strong> “bringing<br />
it back to the community.” The center will serve children aged<br />
six weeks to six years, with fi nancial assistance for lower income<br />
attendees. It will also <strong>of</strong>fer training for teachers and parents to<br />
help them better understand children and manage stress. She<br />
plans to call it Kimberly Academy. And once again, TRF is backing<br />
her. “I really thank God for them,” she says.<br />
Helping Entrepreneurs “Buy the Pond”<br />
Small business lending can be tricky, time consuming, and ineffi<br />
cient, so many CDFIs shy away from it. TRF, for example, has<br />
decided it is more effective focusing on a few areas, such as education,<br />
grocery stores, and housing. For others, such as Accion<br />
Texas- Louisiana, small business is their sole mission. Accion Texas-<br />
Louisiana, a member <strong>of</strong> the Accion International network, is the<br />
largest micr<strong>of</strong>i nance lender in the United States.<br />
Since it was established in 1994, the organization has made more<br />
than 10,000 small business loans to more than 4,500 borrowers in<br />
Texas and Louisiana who were unable to obtain fi nancing from traditional<br />
sources. Most <strong>of</strong> the loans are small—the average is $7,900,<br />
although they can reach $100,000—and have helped entrepreneurs