Our Staff
The Loan
Fund has a great staff contingent with expertise in training, business
development, housing development, social enterprise and research. One
interesting feature as well is the ability to offer our services in
English, French and Spanish.
We
strongly believe in staff development and training and recently staff
has participated in the following workshops and training courses and
are pursuing others:
First Aid / CPR, Life Skills Facilitation, Measuring Program Outcomes, Ridgewood - Addictions 101, CMHA Changing Minds
Joe Godin joined the Loan
Fund in the Fall of 2010 as Loans Coordinator. He has several years of
experience in both Client care and Office Services management, a useful
combination when it comes to what he does here as Loans Coordinator. He
holds a diploma in Power Engineering from NBCC Saint John but after a
few years of work in industry he felt the need to change careers in
order to work in service to other people. Joe considers himself a
Saint Johner but has family roots in the mighty Miramichi. He
volunteers his spare time working to increase awareness of Active
Transportation, especially cycling. His main reason for coming to work
for us is that he wanted to work directly for the community in which he
lives.
Vicki
Cosgrove joined the Loan Fund in the Spring of 2010 to coordinate
the Power-Up program. She has extensive experience working with women
and children in crisis. Vicki brings with her over 13 years
experience working with non-profit agencies spanning from
Canada's arctic communities to small towns in New
Brunswick. Her resume includes programming such as early
childhood development, youth leadership, family violence outreach, and
program facilitation. Vicki is passionate about helping
others and has committed herself through her work and volunteer life to
giving back.
Judi Chisholm joined the Loan Fund
in July 2011 as a Program Support Coordinator. Judi comes to the loan fund with 3 years experience as a Career Services
Coordinator assisting student’s with Career Planning and Preparation, also
acting as liaison between employers and students to find field placements and
employment opportunities. Judi has many
years of experience as a small business owner and manager. This experience will be an asset in the
coordination of Money Matters$$, A$$ets and Yes Programs. Judi will also aid in the delivery of the
Enterprising Woman program.
Melanie Vautour comes to the Loan
Fund after 7 years as Director of Junior Achievement; helping youth
start and manage businesses as well as coordinating and providing
business training programs to more than 20,000 youth during her time
with JA! With her experience and knowledge, it’s no wonder she
jumped at the chance to be our NEW Enterprise Development Officer with
an emphasis on Social Enterprise and Worker Cooperatives. Her
resume also includes experience in all aspects of the Non-Profit
Sector; including fundraising, marketing, volunteer management and
more! Involved with education and local schools for 8 years,
she’s passionate about learning, training and entrepreneurship.
Knowing from a young age that she wanted to “give back” to her
community, this single mom is not content to just “work”; she is
committed to working to change the world one person at a time; a
philosophy the Loan Fund shares!
Seth Asimakos wrote the original business
plan for the Loan Fund and continues as its manager today. Previous to
the Loan Fund, Seth helped develop an immigrant owned worker
co-operative in Saint John; prepared refugees and immigrants for the
job market; and worked on rural economic development in Nicaragua and
Colombia. Seth also served as Executive Director of the Canadian Community Investment Network Cooperative and Co-Director of the Atlantic Social Economy Research Project,
housed at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS. He has served on
various local boards including Bayview Credit Union, Options Outreach
and the Co-operators Advisory Panel. He holds a master's degree in
planning and development.
Employment
Opportunities
No current job openings right
now, but please do not hesitate sending in your resume to
loanfund@nbnet.nb.ca. You
never know, you might be too hard to pass up.
Board of
Directors
The Loan Fund is a non-profit
organization with an elected board of directors. The members of the
board of directors include:
President
Louise Béland
Béland Conference Interpreters
Vice-President
Abby Colwell
Mortgage Broker City
Secretary
Kathryn Asher
Human Development Council
Treasurer
Beverly Zirobwa
Ernst and Young
Past-President
Bob Boyce
Robert L. Boyce Architect
Brian Duplessis
Longshoreman
Marjorie Hamilton
Community Advocate
Don LeBlanc
Century 21
Adam Dickinson
de Stecher Apraisals
Pauline Cosgrove
Retired
Housing and Neighbourhood Development
The Loan
Fund completed its first housing development in March 2009 with the
renovation of a mostly vacant and run down 3 unit building at 133
Prince Edward St.
The Building Committee will convene once again in 2011 to
plan and develop adjacent lots with the intention of building a
multi-use facility with housing and enterprising non-profit space. This
will be a bigger project and be in the range of $1.5 million in
investment. As part of the process we will be consulting local
residents as we prepare a plan that will contribute to the
revitalization of the neighbourhood.
Our History
The Saint John Community Loan
Fund began as an idea in 1996 at a meeting of the Urban Core Support
Network. The individuals around the table spoke of the need for
community credit. Credit that helped people living on low income start
a business or get back to work. The idea stuck, and within months the
Human Development Council conducted a feasibility study and wrote a
business plan that showed there was a market and an opportunity to
establish a community loan fund in Saint John.
Saint John had a poverty rate of 27% at the time, the highest in New
Brunswick. With this knowledge and the will to make a difference,
volunteers began to recruit investments to build the loan pool.
Presentations were given at galleries and in office boardrooms, and
within three months the loan pool was ready. Dorothy Dawson was the
first individual investor at the Loan Fund. Her reason for investing,
"I've been fortunate, so it makes sense to put something back." She
represents the classic Loan Fund investor - compassionate and practical.
The Saint John Community Loan
Fund made its first loan in September 1999. The first loan was a nail
biter, with the volunteer loan committee deliberating over two separate
meetings to tie-up their first "risky" loan. It was for $5,000, and it
was to a company, a one-man show, that salvaged sunken logs from the
bottom of the Saint John River. The loan was a success, with the loan
being paid back and the borrower going on to develop another business
that continues to contribute to Saint John.
The Saint John Community Loan
Fund was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in April 2000 and
received its charitable tax status from Revenue Canada in April 2003.
It continues to be an innovator, being the first and only community
loan fund in Atlantic Canada, joining approximately forty other
micro-credit organizations across the country. All risk capital (loan
and reserve) comes from community investors and donors, with a
diversity of funding sources meeting operational needs.
In 2003, the Loan Fund
confirmed its Vision, 'to be an innovative community lender, responding
to local needs, with sufficient resources to help individuals build
self-reliance through a variety of financial tools, and to provide an
effective vehicle for Saint John citizens to invest directly in their
community.' The Loan Fund started with back to work loans and business
loans in 1999. In 2003, the damage deposit loan was added in response
to a priority stated in the 2000 Community Plan. Training in financial
literacy and business plan training were added in 2003 as well.
The Loan Fund continues to be
recognized as a leader in community investment and community economic
development in the country. In 2004, the Loan Fund won the contract to
serve as the Atlantic Regional Coordinator for the Canadian Community
Economic Development Network and was a key player in creating the
Canadian Community Investment Network.
In November 2006, Seth
Asimakos represented the Saint John Community Loan Fund at the Global
Microcredit Summit held in Halifax. He was a panelist and presenter at
the event that attracted over 2,000 delegates from around the world
attended.
Key
Partners
The Loan Fund continues to be
housed in the offices of the Human Development Council, on the 3rd
Floor of the City Market building. The Human Development Council is an
innovator in social research and planning. It is an incubator of ideas
and responds to community needs, spinning off Housing Alternatives, the
Learning Exchange, and the Saint John Community Loan Fund. The Human
Development Council's Community Information and Referral Centre
continues to be recognized as a leader in the country. Check out their
website at www.sjhdc.ca.
Funders that have enabled the
Loan Fund to be staffed and to build include the Government of
New Brunswick's Women's Issues Branch, and
Social Development, the
Greater Saint John Community Foundation,
the Co-operators CED Fund, and the Canadian
Women's Foundation.
Other groups with whom we work
together regularly include, Enterprise Saint John, the YM-YWCA, the
Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative, and the Urban Core Support
Network.
Thank you to all our current
partners. We look forward to building more in the future.
Performance
By April 2007 (eight years
since opening), the Loan Fund had received over 957 loan inquiries,
averaging 119 inquiries per year. Close to 150 loans had been disbursed
for a total value greater than $175,000. The impact has included
individuals ending reliance on Provincial Income Assistance, families
becoming self-reliant, and over $3,000,000 in new income circulated
here. This has saved the provincial government approximately $450,000
in social assistance payments. Not bad for loans that average $1,250.
Loans have helped individuals
in their effort to create economic independence and self-reliance. It
has enabled them to regain some pride. In 2004 alone, six individuals
ended their reliance on government assistance. Over $76,000 has been
repaid while $33,000 has been written off, representing 18% of total
loans disbursed, and remaining well below our loan loss reserve of 30%.
In March 2002, Tamarack: An
Institute for Community Engagement was contracted to evaluate the Loan
Fund. It concluded that the Loan Fund met or exceeded the goals of the
initial business plan and that its performance was very positive
measured by cost to community impact. Efficient and effective.
Community
Investment
In June 2004, the
Canadian Community Investment Network was
formed to increase the profile and capacity of the sector. Issues of
concern include tax policy for promoting community investment,
professional development, and patient capital for investing in local
funds. Seth Asimakos is a founding board member.
Loan funds in Canada began
primarily with business loans but have diversified to include
employment loans, damage deposit loans, financial literacy training,
bridge loans to non-profits, savings programs, mentorship, and
affordable housing development. In Canada, there are over 40 micro-loan
funds or community lenders covering most parts of the country. Their
assets amount to $10-$15 million. A recent study finished in 2009
identified $1.4 billion in community based financing. For a full
report, please go to to Building Local Assets: Community Investment in Canada,
May 2009
Community loan funds have
sprouted up because they fill gaps in the lending environment, and help
communities tap human potential and the potential of ethical capital.
In the United States, there are over 350 community development
financial institutions, located in 50 states that have lent over $3.5
billion for both business development and affordable housing.
Ethical investing is on the
rise. The Social Investment Organization based in Toronto, estimates
that $609 billion is being invested in ethical business practices
through mutual funds or in local community loan funds. Visit www.socialinvestment.ca
for more on ethical investing.
