Bend the Arc : A Jewish Partnership for Justice Community Investment Initiative via Calvert Foundation CIN
Loan
Raises funds for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in both the US and around the world
For millions of disadvantaged people in the U.S. and internationally, the door to financial opportunity is closed. Since 1995, Calvert Foundation has been working to open that door and let people in. Calvert Foundation is a nonprofit that has pioneered a new type of investing through our Community Investment Note that delivers a social and financial return. We make it possible for everyday people to invest in organizations around the world that empower people living in low-income communities.
The Note was the first retail impact investment with a global reach available to non-accredited investors, and through our new Women INvesting in Women INitiative (WIN-WIN), Calvert Foundation is the first organization to offer a retail impact investment product with a gender lens. We believe in giving a hand-up and enabling people to lift themselves out of poverty.
Summary
Your money will be invested in affordable housing, small business assistance and community facilities like day care centers, schools and health clinics.
Community investing furthers social and economic justice. In a society of great abundance, we can create opportunity through our financial investments. As Maimonides and generations of Jews have understood, a loan that helps an individual to become economically self-sufficient is far more valuable than a one-time gift. Community investing leads to self-sufficiency and economic mobility, allowing those who have been disenfranchised by our economy to lift themselves up through their own skills and determination. • Jewish Values: Community investing fulfills Jewish teachings that emphasize partnership and investment as the highest form of giving. • Jewish Identity: Community investing’s social justice mission energizes Jews and attracts unaffiliated Jewish activists and funders to Jewish life. • Jewish History: Community investing continues the self-help tradition of the Hebrew Free Loan Societies, which helped American Jews create wealth in the last century. • Jewish Needs: Community investment is critical for creating healthy and sustainable cities and neighborhoods for all, including low-income, elderly, and immigrant Jews.
Impact Example
Maria, a junior in high school, recently immigrated to Baltimore from El Salvador. In addition to maintaining a 4.0 GPA, she also holds a part-time job and takes English classes two nights a week through a program with Calvert Foundation borrower, AHC Inc. Because in El Salvador she experienced first-hand the hardship of living in a small town with no nearby medical care, she is striving to become a doctor “to help people who are less fortunate.” Thanks to AHC’s college planning program, Maria has already visited several local colleges.
AHC Inc. produces, preserves, manages, advocates for and finances affordable rental and owner-occupied housing in Virginia and Maryland. AHC operates programs in the Mid-Atlantic region that target low- and moderate-income families and individuals. As an extension of their rental housing program, AHC offers educational services to strengthen our residents' economic and social stability.
