NEWSWORTHY

The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University honored Calvert Foundation Tuesday for exemplifying innovation in our many products and services. Calvert Foundation, the third-place winner, shares this honor with two other organizations striving to alleviate poverty. KickStart International, an organization that helps African entrepreneurs get their businesses started, received the first-place award. Second place was awarded to Hidden Harvest, an organization that employs low-income farm workers to salvage produce left behind by commercial buyers. This model provides fresh fruits and vegetables to distribution agencies in Coachella, CA.

> Read the article from Market Watch

Baltimore Sun columnist Jamie Smith Hopkins highlighted Calvert Foundation’s leading role in affordable housing investment despite current market conditions. “In these days of financial instability, housing development seems like the last place you'd want to invest your money. Calvert Foundation begs to differ,” she wrote. The Community Investment Note offers investors a way to earn a modest financial return while investing in affordable rental housing and home ownership programs. “Calvert Foundation hopes small investors will jump on board because the credit crunch…has narrowed options for affordable-housing developers and lower-income families alike.”

> Read the full article

PORTFOLIO NEWS

Upcoming Investor Briefing Call: "Preserving Strong Communities"

Please join Calvert Foundation to learn about how we are helping individuals and small businesses impacted the most by the current financial crisis.

PRIVATE BRIEFING CALL:
"Preserving Strong Communities"
November 19, 2008 2:30 pm EST / 11:30 am PST
RSVP online, or by contacting Elizabeth Sessler at 800.248.0337 or elizabeth.sessler@calvertfoundation.org

This briefing call will provide a report from Lisa Hall, Calvert Foundation's Chief Lending Officer, on the widespread implications of the crisis. It will also include a personal report from the front lines of community development with Martin Eakes, CEO and founder of Self-Help, the largest community development group in the country. We will discuss how, with your help, we can continue to provide access to credit that disadvantaged communities need to thrive.

> RSVP online to receive dial-in info

SPOTLIGHT ON

Calvert Foundation CFO Chip Hollands has always taken great pleasure in watching and participating in athletics with his own children. Now he’s able to bring this same sense of enthusiasm and enjoyment to a totally new group of kids.

During September and October, Chip developed and ran a series of four softball clinics free of charge for girls in low-income communities. Galvanizing support from several different sources, Chip reached out to high school coaches, parents, player volunteers, and donors who came together for a few days of softball filled with lots of laughs and fun.

Prior attempts by others to organize a similar set of clinics in this neighborhood had produced very little interest. Chip’s persistence in speaking with coaches and other organizers in the community and posting flyers in Spanish and English at churches, laundromats, and grocery stores resulted in a tremendously successful turnout. More than 20 girls showed up for each clinic, where they developed their skills at several different stations staffed by high school volunteers and coaches. 

Most of these young women had never stepped out onto a softball field, but after the clinics many of them were throwing and catching the ball routinely. As Chip notes, “the improvement was truly impressive.” Most importantly, the kids got a taste of the sport and its camaraderie, self-discipline and skills development.

The experience as a whole was a great example of what hard work and dedication to community can do. After everything had come to an end, the newly energized softball players had just one question for Chip: when would the next season of clinics begin?

 

ASK SHARI

A growing number of investors are looking beyond their traditional investment options for something that delivers a greater “social” return than even the most socially responsible companies can provide. They have found this in community investing, which provides high impact social returns. These returns can be measured in the well-being of both neighborhoods in your city and on the other side of the world.

By providing modest financial returns, this capital can reach communities in great need – areas where the economics could not possibly sustain higher returns to investors. Community investing directly addresses many of the most vexing problems facing humankind today: urban decay, rural poverty, economic disenfranchisement, declining public health, and hopelessness, both here and abroad. While investing in corporations that act responsibly can help deal with many of the same issues, community investing makes the most direct impact on a community’s well-being.

While not necessarily the first investment that social investors think of, community investments are extremely accessible, requiring a minimum commitment of only $100 for as little as one year. Returns generally vary from 0 to 3 percent and are selected by the investor. Community investments are a valuable way to diversify a portfolio. But most importantly, community investing pays dividends in social returns measured by affordable housing, health clinics, daycare facilities, jobs, and other vital signs of community renewal.

> Ask Shari a question.

 

Photos courtesy of CL Fund and Patrick Davis