University Bank
Impact Story
A condemned century-old home in Saint Paul’s West Seventh Street neighborhood was a shadow of its former self. Renovator Hunter Miley saw the two-story structure and had an idea to bring it back to life.
Miley, a former substance abuser, wanted to rehab the house and create a home for people recovering from addiction. He had the building know-how, but needed financing. Miley contacted University Bank and learned that they could provide him with guaranteed funds from the city of Saint Paul to obtain a loan for the project.
University Bank helped finance two additional houses that became homes for adults in recovery. Hunter Miley is now director of Second Step Supportive Housing.
“University Bank took a risk with me,” Miley explained. “Many banks wouldn’t embrace a project like this one. University Bank had the foresight to see that this project was positive for the neighborhood and would give people like me a second chance”
Overview
As Minnesota’s first federally insured Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), University Bank (UNNB) strives to be the leader in improving communities by providing financial return with social impact. Through the creation of innovative programs, University Bank’s mission is to provide loans in low-income communities and to make urban St. Paul and Minneapolis a better place to live.
Programs
University Bank provides a variety of services and products, including checking and savings accounts and consumer and commercial loans. In addition to these basic services, University Bank has developed a number of programs that focus on community development, mainly in the lending sectors of affordable housing and small business loans.
Houses to Homes: University Bank finances the renovation of homes in distressed communities, which are then targeted to first-time buyers or low- to moderate-income home buyers.
Urban Revitalization Fund (URF): University Bank allows a customer to open any depository account and pools the account balances in the URF to support affordable housing, small businesses, non-profit organizations and community services.
Neighborhood Lending Partnership (NLP): University Bank utilizes “gap financing” for the purchase and rehabilitation of residential or commercial real estate in Saint Paul. Through the NLP, University Bank fills the “gap” between what a customer has in liquid assets versus what a bank needs for a down payment in the form of a loan guarantee.
Client Population
University Bank’s clientele consist of low-to-moderate-income individuals living in urban areas of the Twin Cities. Over 30% of the bank’s customers have a household income at or below the area’s median income.
Impact
Since inception, University Bank has lent $268 million to individuals and institutions, including minority-owned companies and nonprofits in communities throughout the Twin Cities. During the past year affordable housing received the most attention with 341 total housing project loans, 485 total housing units financed, and 341 total housing units developed or rehabbed.
Investing with University Bank
Trillium Asset Management (TAMC) added University Bank to its list of approved Community Investments in February of 2005. On behalf of our clients, TAMC will make investments in MCDC of at least $5,000 for a minimum term of two years.
Montana Community Development Corporation
The Montana Community Development Corporation (MTCDC) is a non-profit certified community development finance corporation founded in 1989 to serve five counties in Western Montana. These counties are large, rural, diverse, and sparsely populated.
MTCDC serves entrepreneurs with loans, consulting and technical assistance. It works with businesses and offers financing and business development services that help sustain communities and create income opportunities for low/moderate-income residents. Its clients range from one-person home-based businesses to non-profits and for-profit corporations.
Programs
Business Counseling: Free, practical business planning and problem-solving through the Small Business Development Center. This program strengthens capacity among firms and lays the foundation for long term viability.
Small Business Loans: Targeted to viable enterprises that are unable to obtain bank loans.
Loan Packaging: Assistance in approaching conventional lenders for financing. Sometimes, combining other commercial loans with MTCDC funds or public funds, in order to make packages bankable.
Large Project Planning: As an administrator for government-backed revolving loan funds, MTCDC helps in developing major business projects that require complex financing and the use of public economic development funds.
Native American Fund: Makes micro loans to Native American borrowers.
Montana Child Care Loan Fund: Helps childcare businesses expand facilities and improve programs. Connects applicants with the childcare-specific business instruction needed to become loan ready.
Impact
Mike Harris filled the need for quality, delivered, stone-baked pizza when he opened Big Boy’s Pizza in East Missoula, MT. Mike worked with MTCDC to create a business plan with realistic expectations for the highly competitive restaurant business.
Lee McAllister of Cottonwood Traders began working with MTCDC nearly four years ago to finance the raw materials and inventory he needed to create and sell fine, hand-crafted silver and stone jewelry. In April of last year, using additional finances from MTCDC, Lee acquired equipment to help him update his jewelry making process and widen the distribution of his wares.
Since inception, MTCDC has lent more than $6,808,513 to 248 borrowers in its five county region. Loans have ranged from $1,000 to $368,000. Currently 56% of MCDC clients are women and 9% are Native American.
During FY 2003, MTCDC loaned more than $400,000 to nine borrowers. It also held five training events with a total of 25 attendees and 70 hours of training services.
Investing with MTCDC
Trillium Asset Management’s (TAMC) Investment Management Committee added MTCDC to its list of approved Community Investments in February of 2005. On behalf of our clients, TAMC will make investments in MTCDC of at least $5,000 for a minimum term of two years.
ACCION International
Overview
In 1961 ACCION International (ACCION) was founded as a student-run volunteer effort to address the poverty in Latin America’s cities. Over the last four decades, ACCION has built a tradition of developing innovative solutions to poverty.
ACCION is one of the premier micro-finance organizations in the world and serves as an umbrella organization for a network of micro-finance institutions in 20 countries throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Mission
The mission of ACCION International is to give people the tools they need to work their way out of poverty. ACCION provides capital for “micro” loans and business training to poor women and men who start their own businesses. With capital, people can grow their own businesses and earn enough to afford basics like running water, better food and schooling for their children.
Programs
Most of the world’s three billion poor people cannot find work. Where they live, few jobs are available and those that are often don’t pay a living wage. To survive, they must create their own jobs by starting tiny businesses or “microenterprises.” They make and sell tortillas, sew clothes or sell vegetables in the street – anything to put food on the table.
ACCION provides working capital – a loan as small as $100 at a fair rate of interest. These loans are often considered too small for banks to justify the time and expense to administer them, and microentrepreneurs lack the collateral and credit history required by traditional lenders. But a small loan can cover the cost of raw materials or a critical piece of equipment like a sewing machine, allowing borrowers to grow their tiny businesses. With a growing income, people can work their way out of poverty.
Additionally, ACCION’s technical assistance teams have helped build and strengthen some of the most successful microlending institutions in the world. These institutions use a market-based approach that enables them to become profitable, permanent parts of the financial systems in the countries where they operate.
Impact
Latin American, Caribbean and African borrowers:
· Are among the region’s poorest people at the time of their first loan.
· Usually have no collateral.
· May not be able to read or write.
· May not have enough capital to open for business every day.
· Are 65 percent women.
ACCION works with more than 25 partner microfinance organizations in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. ACCION’s partner programs served 740,000 borrowers in 2002.
Investing with ACCION
On behalf of our clients, TAMC has been making investments with ACCION for nearly twenty years and we currently manage over $400,000 that is invested in ACCION promissory notes. TAMC will make investments for our clients of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years.
ShoreBank Chicago
Overview
Since inception, ShoreBank has lent more than a billion dollars to individuals and institutions, as well as to minority-owned companies and nonprofits in Chicago.
ShoreBank Chicago (ShoreBank) is a subsidiary of ShoreBank Corporation. ShoreBank is America’s first community development banking corporation. ShoreBank started in August of 1973, when it purchased South Shore Bank on Chicago’s South Side. The previous owners had intended to move the bank out of the South Side to downtown Chicago based on their perception that business opportunities were declining as African-American families moved into the neighborhood. Local residents protested the move and regulators denied an application to relocate the bank.
Mission
ShoreBank Chicago is committed to building vibrant communities by providing financial services and information to create economic equity and a healthy environment.
Programs
ShoreBank is a full-service FDIC-insured commercial bank providing commercial, consumer and real estate loans, and retail banking services. ShoreBank aims to stimulate new business, and increase property values in targeted communities by attracting outside investors and investing its own resources in these neighborhoods.
Through Development Deposits, investors are offered market rate, federally insured bank deposits that are used as capital for urban development in minority communities. ShoreBank recaptures neglected rental buildings, finances small businesses, and helps people fix up their homes and property.
ShoreBank’s Business Banking services include programs that directly target Chicago’s nonprofit community:
· Faith-Based Banking Program: Aimed at helping faith based organizations and their members attain their full potential with programs like Electronic Tithing and Y.E.S. (Youth Excited about Saving).
· Nonprofit Organizations: With ShoreBank’s market-rate cash management tools, nonprofits can keep their funds accessible while helping fuel ShoreBank’s community development work.
Client Population
ShoreBank serves under-invested, low-income urban communities. Approximately 25% of ShoreBank’s total deposits come from customers living outside of the retail service area who choose ShoreBank because of its community development mission.
Impact
ShoreBank has been profitable every year since 1975 and has created a successful model of development banking that has been replicated elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad.
Home ownership is one of the most effective ways to build personal wealth and to revitalize communities. ShoreBank provides homeownership and home conservation information to residents.
Urban neighborhoods are often host to commercial sites that remain vacant due to the high cost of removing lingering chemical waste. These sites contribute nothing to the tax base and pose health risks to residents. ShoreBank addresses these issues by financing decontamination and redevelopment of these sites into vibrant commercial and residential areas.
Investing with ShoreBank
On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management has been investing with ShoreBank for over twenty years. We currently manage $650,000 that is invested in market-rate ShoreBank certificates of deposit. Investments with ShoreBank are at least $5,000 for a minimum of two years.
Wainwright Bank & Trust Company
Wainwright Bank & Trust Company (Wainwright) is a publicly traded commercial bank (NASDAQ – WAIN) headquartered in Boston and recognized as a leading socially responsible community bank. Full-service banking is offered with an array of personal, business and nonprofit deposit accounts and loans.
Wainwright predominantly serves the urban communities (70%) of eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, with the majority of clients located in the Greater Boston area.
Mission
Wainwright resolves to be a leading socially responsible bank. In its model of inclusion, employees, customers and communities have an equal place at the table alongside stockholders. Wainwright professes that each of these constituencies is best served when all are served.
Programs
With an active commercial lending operation and products such as debit cards and telebanking, Wainwright outwardly resembles most other banks. Wainwright’s social justice agenda is where there is divergence from traditional banks, providing a unique identity and committed client base.
Wainwright hosts CommunityRoom.net, which provides a free website to every nonprofit client of the bank and the ability to accept online donations. Each nonprofit creates and edits its own web content. Wainwright currently serves over 300 local nonprofits.
Wainwright has taken a lead role in promoting financial literacy for inner-city residents with its Financial Empowerment program. The bank has a dedicated Community Development Officer who provides basic financial information to youths and residents of inner-city neighborhoods.
Wainwright offers a Green Loan program, which offers a discounted, fixed rate Home Equity Loan for homeowners to install solar energy systems.
On December 1, 1997 Wainwright purchased 32% of the equity in Trillium Asset Management Corporation (TAMC). This alliance allows both companies to broaden the services we provide our respective clients.
Impact
In the last 10 years Wainwright has made over $300 million in socially responsible community development loans for projects such as homeless shelters, food banks, special needs housing, HIV/AIDS services, breast cancer research, immigrant support services and environmental protection.
Wainwright has committed over $11 million in financing to housing for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS, representing 50% of these projects built in the Greater Boston area.
Wainwright has developed Personal Financial Planning for Women seminars to help women become financially independent.
Items of Note
Wainwright is an endorser of the CERES Principles.
In 1992, Wainwright was the first bank in Massachusetts to offer employees same-sex domestic partner benefits.
Wainwright has “Casual for a Cause Fridays,” when employees pay a fee to dress casually; the total amount raised is matched by the bank and is given to a nonprofit nominated by the employees.
Investing with Wainwright
On behalf of our clients, TAMC made its first investment with Wainwright in 1998. We currently manage $170,000 that is invested in Wainwright market-rate certificates of deposit. TAMC will make investments with Wainwright of at least $5,000 for a minimum of two years.
Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF)
Overview
As a not-for-profit revolving loan fund, Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) provides financing for high social impact development projects. This is financing that banks generally do not provide. Since 1991, CCLF has grown successfully from an initial investment of $200,000 to nearly $10.5 million total capital under management. To date, the fund has closed 90 loans totaling over $13 million, which in turn has leveraged nearly $170 million in additional public- and private-sector capital for those community projects.
CCLF is certified by the US Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund and is an active member of the National Community Capital Association.
Mission
CCLF’s mission is to provide low-cost, flexible financing to nonprofit community development organizations for affordable housing, economic development and social service initiatives in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.
Programs
CCLF offers many types of loans, but is well known for its Predevelopment Loan product. Predevelopment loans are short-term, usually the first dollars into a project, and often the most difficult type of financing to access because they cover expenses accrued even before construction begins. Such soft costs include: land or building acquisition, site stabilization, interim maintenance, environmental surveys, appraisals, taxes, insurance coverage, as well as legal, architectural and consultant fees. A predevelopment loan from CCLF often paves the way for other lenders and funders to get comfortable with participating in the project.
CCLF also provides integrated and stand-alone technical assistance to community-based organizations, including:
Customized workshops to help clients prepare and launch real estate development projects
Comprehensive Development Assessments, which offer customized, site-based consulting
Referral Services that provide time-sensitive development advice and referrals
Impact
CCLF concentrates its lending activity on organizations in low- and moderate-income communities where the majority of residents are minorities. Eighty-eight percent of borrowers have a household income at or below 80% of area median income. The client population is diverse, with 60% African American, 14% Caucasian, 24% Latino, and 2% Asian. With 55% female borrowers, women head more than half of the borrower organizations.
In FY2002, CCLF disbursed 13 loans totaling $2.56 million that leveraged 249 units of housing and created 64 jobs. These loans leveraged over $41.4 million in public and private sector capital.
Investing with CCLF
On behalf of our clients, TAMC made its first investment with CCLF in 1994. Currently TAMC manages just over $100,000 that is invested with CCLF. TAMC makes investments with CCLF of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years. Interest is paid annually and the principal is paid in full on the day the investment reaches maturity.
EcoLogic Enterprise Ventures
Lending Focus
Latin American sustainable businesses including agro-forestry crops (e.g. organic and shade-grown coffee, cocoa, spices), non-timber forest products, certified wood, fisheries and eco-tourism
Overview
EcoLogic Enterprise Ventures (EEV) is “green” loan fund that targets eco-enterprises located in environmentally sensitive areas of rural Latin America. Organized in Massachusetts as a not-for-profit corporation in 1999, EEV offers credit support to small to medium sized environmental enterprises in Latin America. EEV is unique in its approach in that it partners local producers with green importers in buyer countries before extending credit.
Mission
EEV seeks to strengthen the economic self-reliance of economically marginalized communities while advancing environmental conservation in areas of high biodiversity in Latin America. The primary beneficiaries are small-scale rural producers (e.g. family farmers and small-scale fishermen) who are systematically denied access to credit by local banks.
Programs
EEV targets community-based businesses that are too poor and under-collateralized to be regarded as bankable by local financial institutions. The borrower population is 75% indigenous (Maya and Quechua) and 25% Latino of which 25% are women.
In most cases, EEV has supported the production and export of agro-forestry crops grown in rich and diverse forest environments in priority conservation areas. EEV currently operates in six different Latin American countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Peru.
EEV has also provided affordable credit to support eco-tourism in Belize as well as a cooperative of lobster fishermen and a federation of community-based whale-watching guides located on the Pacific coast of Baja California.
Impact Story
La Florida is a cooperative of small-scale coffee growers on the eastern slopes of the Andes mountain range in central Peru. Founded in 1966, the organization represents 650 peasant farmers whose densely forested coffee fields lie squarely within the region that was terrorized by the Shining Path guerillas until the mid-1990s. Twenty workers were killed and the coffee processing plant was bombed during two attacks by the guerillas in the early 1990s.
With Peru’s civil war over, the cooperative was able to get back on its feet with financial support from European NGOs. A registered “fair trade” organization, La Florida warehouses, processes, markets, and exports nearly all the coffee grown by communities in its region.
In February 2002, an EEV team traveled to the town of La Florida to evaluate a credit request to increase the cooperative’s production and exports of shade-grown organic coffee. Two months later, EEV provided an initial $150,000 in short-term harvest credit to La Florida. Last year, the co-op generated over $3.0 million in sales on exports of 3.2 million pounds of coffee. After successfully collecting its initial loan in January 2003, EEV recently approved an additional $200,000 in post-harvest financing to La Florida for the coffee season currently underway.
In December 2002, Green Mountain Coffee announced that it had provided EEV with a no-interest loan of $100,000. This will provide needed financing to small-scale coffee producers who grow some of Green Mountain Coffee’s certified fair trade offerings.
Investing with EEV
TAMC’s Investment Management Committee approved EEV for investment in April 2003. On behalf of our clients, TAMC will make investments with EEV of a minimum of $15,000 for a term of not less than two years.
Finance
Total Assets $2,216
Total Liabilities $1,413
Total Expenses $220
Change in Net Assets $374
Portfolio $976
Loan Loss Reserves
Vermont Development Credit Union
Vermont Development Credit Union
BackgroundFounded in 1989 by Burlington Ecumenical Action Ministry, Vermont Development Credit Union (Vermont Development) is dedicated to providing access to affordable credit and financial services to low-income and underserved Vermonters. In thirteen years, Vermont Development has made over 9,300 loans totaling $78 million. It is a state regulated and federally insured Community Development Financial Institution.
Programs Vermont Development provides financial services to a population that is not served by traditional financial institutions and is often targeted by predatory lenders. In addition to the standard services found at most banks or credit unions, Vermont Development offers some unique products and services.
These include loans that range from $50 to $150,000, including “Job Wheels” transportation loans, “Working Wheels” loans to those in transition from welfare to work, Adaptive Technology loans for people with disabilities, and Individual Development Loans for education, credit consolidation, financial emergencies and helping people establish a positive credit record. Other types of loans focus on energy saving investments in homes and farms, micro-enterprise loans, small business loans, affordable mortgages, and home improvement loans.
Vermont Development provides development services that include budget counseling, homeowner education and small business counseling. They also encourage membership with a low $5.00 membership fee and with a minimum savings deposit of just $5.00.
Client Population Vermont Development has 10,000 members in 205 Vermont towns. Eighty percent of the membership is low-income. Half of the members are women. Most have limited financial assets and many have experienced past credit problems. Many local nonprofit organizations are also members.
Investing with Vermont Community Development Credit UnionOn behalf of our clients, TAMC made it first investment with Vermont Development in 1999.
TAMC will make investments with Vermont Development of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years.
Impact The need for Vermont Development’s services is demonstrated by their growth. In 1990, the first full year of operation, they loaned $235,000. In 2002, they made 1,994 loans totaling $20.8 million. These loans enable low-income Vermonters to buy and repair homes, start and expand micro-enterprises, obtain education, get better jobs, and achieve financial stability. Thousands of Vermont Development members also build financial stability by saving, learning to avoid high-priced debt, and building positive credit histories.
Impact Stories
In 10 years of living in subsidized housing, Brianna Parry never stopped dreaming of owning a home where her children could play outside and she and her husband would not share a bedroom with their toddler. Last year, Vermont Development’s Home Dollars program made their dreams come true. Vermont Development used a grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston to match their savings four to one. Using these savings and a Vermont Development mortgage, they purchased Brianna’s childhood home and converted the garage into an apartment for her parents.
“Our total ownership costs are less than our old rent,” says Brianna, “and we have the benefit of having my parents on site. There are so many people like us just trying to get our feet on the ground. Vermont Development made it possible.”
Winston Lacasse is disabled from a farming accident when tons of falling machinery severely injured his shoulder and ribs. He receives Social Security and a Section 8 housing subsidy. Winston was invited to buy the 1958 General-model trailer where he lives. He was nervous because he had no credit history and a limited income. Vermont Development Credit Union showed him he had an important asset. “I had always paid my rent on time,” Winston says, “and always left a place cleaner than when I moved in. They took my landlords’ references for five years back. That’s all they needed to make me a loan.”
NICA Fund
NICA Fund
Overview
The Nicaraguan Credit Alternatives Fund (NICA Fund) is a community development loan fund founded in 1998 by the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN). The NICA Fund helps provide capital to disadvantaged persons in Nicaragua by channeling funds from socially responsible North American investors to enterprises owned and controlled by low-income Nicaraguans.
WCCN was founded in 1984 by Wisconsin citizens outraged by the US-supported war being waged on the citizens of Nicaragua. In its early years, WCCN’s activity centered on political activism, material aid, and resistance to the US embargo against Nicaragua.
Mission
Although rich in culture and intellect, Nicaragua is impoverished economically. Approximately half of the population lives in poverty and about 17% live in extreme poverty. Under such circumstances, families often rely on agriculture for their subsistence. This requires capital to buy supplies, but the disadvantaged have little or no access to commercial banks.
The mission of the NICA Fund is to provide financing for economic projects of Nicaraguan sectors with little access to commercial credit. Its lending policies are intended to support the following values and principles:
• Civic participation and locally controlled development;
• Gender equality;
• No religious, cultural, or political discrimination;
• Just labor practices; and
• Fair economic relationships between the North and the South.
Programs
The NICA fund makes loans by collaborating with its “partner agencies”, Nicaraguan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that specialize in providing financial services to marginalized sectors. These agencies include:
The Association of Consultants for Micro, Small and Medium Business Development which provides credit and training to low-income borrowers.
National Rural Teller is a network of rural credit unions with 10 branches throughout Nicaragua.
The Cooperativa de Servicios Multiples 20 de Abril, a multi-service cooperative in a remote region of northern Nicaragua. The main activities of the cooperative are commercialization of agricultural goods produced by co-op members, a micro-credit program, a savings program, and a co-op owned store that sells household and agricultural goods.
The Women’s Development Fund which promotes the economic empowerment of women by providing access to credit.
Investing with the NICA Fund
About 85% of the NICA fund investors are individuals; churches, local activist organizations and small foundations make up the balance. On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management made its first investment with the NICA fund in 1999. Currently, TAMC manages just under $100,000 invested with the fund. TAMC makes investments with the NICA fund of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years. Interest is paid annually and the principal is paid in full on the day the investment reaches maturity.
The NICA Fund has an Oversight Committee comprised of a group of experts in finance and grassroots development. The Committee meets monthly to approve WCCN’s new investments in Nicaragua and to monitor existing investments.
Calvert Community Investments
Calvert Community Investments from Calvert Foundation
Mission
The Calvert Social Investment Foundation (Calvert Foundation) was established with a simple goal: to help end poverty through investment. Calvert Foundation works to maximize the flow of capital through more than 160 community development organizations globally, to benefit underserved communities and individuals and achieve a more equitable and sustainable society. Through Calvert Foundation’s programs, individuals and institutions place capital to finance affordable homes, fund small and micro businesses and make available essential community services.
Programs
With the core product offering, Calvert Community Investment Notes, and a wide variety of other products, investors choose from a range of highly targeted investment options; all products share the same goal of ending poverty in the US and around the world.
Calvert Community Investment Notes allow investors to channel investment capital into disadvantaged communities through the following products.
Jubilee Investing InitiativeDirects faith-based community investments to non-profit lenders worldwide.
LGBT Community Investment NotesSupports lenders that provide important community facilities and services for the lesbian/gay/bi-sexual/transgender community.
Oikocredit World Partnership ProgramOikocredit was founded 25 years ago as an alternative investment instrument for churches to provide credit for poor and disadvantaged people around the world.
Opportunity Transformation InvestmentsInvestments through this program are lent to Opportunity International Partners in poor countries around the world for microcredit programs.
Grameen InvestmentsThe Calvert foundation has directed capital to Grameen Foundation USA to help working poor in Bangladesh develop sustainable businesses.
Investing with Calvert Community Investments
Investors choose a fixed interest rate of 0-3% (the lower the rate, the more supportive of nonprofit borrowers) and the term of investment of up to 5 years. For investments over $25,000 Calvert Foundation will design custom community investment portfolios to meet specific social and/or geographic impact objectives.
On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management Corporation (TAMC) made its first investment with Calvert Community Investments in 1997. We currently manage over $150,000 invested with Calvert Community Investments. TAMC makes investments with Calvert Community Investments of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years.
Impact
Calvert Community Investments concentrates on four impact areas:
1. Microcredit extends credit to the poor in countries where loans of as little as $50 can turn lives around.
2. Affordable Housing helps build and refurbish housing that people can afford to buy or rent.
3. Community Development loans money to create jobs, provide good daycare and boost locally owned businesses in troubled communities.
4. Small Business Loans help people start or strengthen their own companies.
In addition to earning interest, capital invested in Calvert Community Investments measure their return in jobs created, houses built and lives transformed. Community Investment is a simple, direct and measurable way to help end poverty and change lives.
Calvert Community Investment Notes are administered by the Calvert Social Investment Foundation (Calvert Foundation) and are not a mutual fund. Calvert Community Investment Notes should not be confused with any Calvert Group-sponsored investment products. For more information please visit www.calvertfoundation.org.
