Loans: Social Justice
Featured Loan: Hamilton-Madison House
Supporting healthy immigrant communities in Manhattan’s Lower East Side
$250,000 working capital loan (December 2022)
The mission of Hamilton-Madison House (HMH) is to support residents of New York City's Chinatown and Two Bridges neighborhoods through senior centers, childcare, youth development programs, community advocacy, and a garden cemetery. One of the first of New York City's historic settlement houses, HMH has advocated for immigrant communities in the Lower East Side for over 100 years. By prioritizing offering these critical services in the native languages of the diverse populations it serves, HMH responds directly to the needs of more than 5,000 people annually in all phases of life.
Hamilton-Madison House depends on contracts with government agencies for a significant portion of its funding. Government payments to nonprofits are often delayed, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Financed through NFF’s CARE Fund, which offers 0% interest loans to community-centered nonprofits led by people of color, this loan will make sure that HMH has consistent access to working capital for its essential programs while it waits for government funding to arrive. With support from this loan, HMH plans to expand its services. This loan will also help HMH set up a direct deposit program for its employees, ensuring that they are paid smoothly for their essential work – assuring the well-being of thousands of people in Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and beyond.
Just Cities: Advancing justice in the East Bay Area
$150,000 working capital loan (October 2022)
NFF’s Bay Area Racial Equity Fund provides zero-interest loans with flexible repayment plans to BIPOC-led nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area. Offered through this fund, this loan will smooth over cash flow issues caused by delays in government reimbursement and fund vital trainings for staff. With support from this loan, Just Cities can focus on its critical work: designing cities that remember our collective past of injustice and forging new roadmaps of inclusion and self-determination.
Good Call: Human-centered criminal justice system reform in New York City
$200,000 working capital loan (August 2022)
Good Call has seen an increase in demand for their services during the pandemic. Financed through NFF’s CARE Fund, which offers 0% interest loans to community-centered nonprofits led by and serving people of color, this loan will help ensure that Good Call can continue to offer their services and be responsive to rising demand for its services. With support from this financing, Good Call can continue offering thousands of individuals in New York City and beyond the legal assistance they need – and transform the criminal justice system’s pre-trial process, one call at a time.
Think of Us: Shifting power to place foster youth at the center
$800,000 line of credit (May 2022)
TOU has seen an increase in demand for its programs and services and would like to expand in response. However, it is experiencing a delay in payments on its contract with California State. Supported in part by the Hilton Foundation, this loan from NFF will help alleviate cash flow pressures related to government reimbursement timing so that TOU can focus more of its efforts on expanding its programs and connecting foster youth to resources that help them gain control over their futures.
Immigrant Defense Project: Advancing equity for immigrant communities in New York
$500,000 bridge loan (March 2022)
Advocating for immigrants grows more important every day. IDP needs to hire staff to fill several open vacancies; however, a delay in a government-funded contract has forced them to freeze hiring for the bulk of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by the Trinity Church Wall Street Grantee Loan fund, this loan will bridge this delayed payment so that the organization can hire for these essential positions – including a development manager who could sustainably bring in funding that would allow them to grow.
TakeRoot Justice: Legal and policy efforts to build power in New York City communities
$500,000 bridge loan (January 2022)
TakeRoot Justice receives 85% of its funding from government contracts. However, these contracts are reimbursement-based and often are delayed, meaning that the organization must acquire bridge financing to ensure it has enough cash on hand to run its critical programs and pay its staff. Further, the organization recently spun off from Urban Justice Center and became an independent nonprofit – meaning it doesn't have a larger balance sheet and financial history many lenders require. Offered through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund, this bridge loan from NFF will provide the organization with several months of working capital – money that will sustain its operations until contract reimbursements come through. It will also support TakeRoot Justice's essential efforts to provide legal and policy support for the solutions that New York City's citizens need.
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison: Re-entering society and pursuing long-term goals
$500,000 working capital loan (January 2022)
HL started its work more than 20 years ago with the support of Trinity Church Wall Street and other local churches and synagogues. Trinity Church Wall Street was its first funder and partner, providing support for everything from hosting alumni gatherings to supporting art shows for released students and participating in the creation of programs. Today, through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund, NFF is providing HL with a loan to support the separate but affiliated organization New Beginnings, which employs formerly incarcerated youth to build homes for people re-entering society. The loan will also offer HL working capital while it recuperates losses from revenue-generating events cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this financing, HL can continue to invest in critical programs for currently and formerly incarcerated people – programs that support their smooth reentry into society and pursuit of their long-term aspirations.
Partners: Trinity Church Wall Street
Why Not Prosper: Successful reentries for formerly incarcerated women in Philadelphia
$250,000 working capital loan (December 2021)
Why Not Prosper recently received a donation of several acres of land in Eagle Rock, PA, on which they plan to build a retreat center where they can both host programs and that they can rent out to generate revenue. They are launching a capital campaign to finance the development of this new site. Offered through NFF's zero-interest CARE Fund, this loan will seed the capital campaign and support the salary of a full-time development director that will lead the campaign while seeking out additional grant funding for the organization. We hope this loan will allow Why Not Prosper to make the investments it needs to continue growing – and expand their programs to even more incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women.
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ): Mobilizing Young Leaders to End Youth Criminalization
$250,000 bridge loan (November 2021)
Financed by NFF’s zero-interest CARE Fund, this loan will support the leasehold improvement of CURYJ’s new headquarter and community center. Its newly leased space will be part of the development of the Oscar Grant Youth Empowerment Zone in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, which will include 181 units of affordable housing. The newly leased space will house a social-enterprise cafe employing formerly incarcerated community members, a multipurpose space for community organizing, and program and office space for CURYJ staff and CBO partners. CURYJ envisions this space as a nexus for intergenerational healing through the unique combination of movement strategy hubs, direct service programming, and social-enterprise.
Envision Freedom Fund: Working to end unjust cash bail and pretrial detention
$250,000 working capital loan through the Trinity Church Grantee Loan Fund (October 2021)
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