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YOUR IMPACT:
SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT (SROI)
With the help of caring investors like you, our
portfolio has helped:
- build 10,044 affordable homes
- create 226,259 jobs for low-income people
- finance 13,286 nonprofit facilities such as daycare centers, schools and nursing homes
...through investment in 216 organizations in all 50 US states and 106 countries.
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Calvert Foundation Featured in the Financial Times
The recent popularity of microfinance has helped bring investment as a poverty alleviation tool to the forefront. Reporter Kathryn Tully highlights the opportunity for investors to support various projects in addition to microfinance, as opportunities to fund community development projects around the world increase. “Charity that offers a fair profit” appeared in the Wealth & Philanthropy section of the Financial Times.
> Read the full article.
Rebuilding a Community, One Neighborhood at a Time
This month we invite you to catch a glimpse of how your investment is helping urban neighborhoods in Chicago. The Halls (pictured below) are making a positive impact on neglected communities through a loan from ShoreBank, a Calvert Foundation portfolio partner.
Calvert Foundation Sales Manager, Art Stevens, visited them recently, and brings us the story below.
Meet the individuals generating a social return on your investment
Lisa Hall knew she wanted something more from her work. Leaving the corporate world, she wanted to give back to the community and help rebuild neighborhoods suffering from crime and neglect. She and her husband Calvin were familiar with managing rental properties, and with enough effort and sweat, thought they could turn a badly dilapidated multi-family building into a safe and clean haven for local residents. They had the brains and the energy; they just needed the credit.
This turned out to be more difficult than they thought. Traditional banks were happy with their credit, but were not interested in loaning to rehabilitate in the way that the Halls envisioned. Then Lisa and Calvin found ShoreBank, whose staff not only understood what they were trying to do, but had helped other small developers do the very same thing. Additionally, ShoreBank had a branch in the neighborhood the Halls were interested in rehabilitating - the only Chicago bank willing to have one there. With the credit they needed, Lisa and Calvin identified their first property and took the leap.
The night after closing, reality set in. “I wanted to give it back,” Lisa says today, laughing at the memory. The interior condition of their newly acquired property was appalling, with drug paraphernalia and garbage. The “sweat equity” was more than the couple imagined. Thankfully for the community, Lisa and Calvin did not quit. Their first renovation made two immediate impacts. First, with the “problem” house in the neighborhood removed, crime and tension immediately decreased. Second, absentee property owners in the neighborhood began investing to fix up their properties, and the entire block started to look a lot better.
Lisa and Calvin used the tremendous lessons learned during that first purchase in their next several purchases. They now have a number of properties in south Chicago helping to make a difference. They recently realized, however, that housing is only part of the picture. A community also needs thriving small businesses to increase the wealth and stability. In response, the Halls have expanded to commercial properties, leasing to a barber school that provides training for GEDs as well as hair styling. They are also opening a building with executive suites for businesses to lease. Lisa and Calvin's work is a shining example of how community investment can provide the best dividend there is: hope for a brighter future.
> Learn more about ShoreBank
Enhanced GiftShares Program: Help us expand our loan programs!
We are very excited about a wonderful enhancement to our critically important philanthropic program! Our GiftShares program, now in its 5th year, has been redesigned to make it even more powerful in helping the communities we serve together. Now, in addition to making loans to new, innovative organizations, GiftShares donations will also go toward building the core capital that allows us to make all of our loans.
Enhancing the GiftShares program allows us to do more lending than we have the capacity to do right now. The most exciting aspect of this enhancement is that donations to core capital are leveraged 20 times over; therefore, a $100 donation allows us to make $2,000 in loans.
We need your help! Learn more and make a donation on our website. For more information, contact Tracey Jarmon at 301.961.4768 or tracey.jarmon@calvertfoundation.org.
> Learn more about GiftShares.
How is Calvert Foundation working to fight the effects of poverty on our children's education?
Your investment dollars support many organizations that are working to improve the quality of education our children receive. Calvert Foundation's investments fund educational programs across the country such as Washington, DC-based Tree of Life Charter School, which provides children in preschool through eighth grade the skills they need to excel academically and in community service. We also support organizations such as Little Tokyo Service Center CDC in Los Angeles, which offers services to over 300 local youth. Their various programs, ranging from childcare to literacy to mentoring programs, are culturally and linguistically sensitive, helping these young individuals not only achieve their full potential, but also forge bonds between the diverse youth populations who are vital to the future of Los Angeles. Another Calvert Foundation partner, Project for Pride in Living (PPL), connects youth from PPL housing and local elementary schools with college students who serve as tutors, mentors and positive role models. The college students help youth participants achieve academic success while helping them build self esteem, develop social skills and gain an appreciation for others. In return, PPL provides the college students free housing in PPL-managed facilities, allowing them to live near the local elementary school students they mentor. The college students who participate also benefit from the experience, which helps them grow into supportive adults engaged in the local community. These are only three examples of our many partner groups working to expand the reach of local educational systems through tutoring, mentoring and training efforts.
> Ask Calvert Foundation's Executive Director Shari Berenbach a question!
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