Our Impact
“Unless you are already wealthy or have wealthy friends, you need a loan to start a business. It can be scary — especially if you don’t have great credit or don’t fit the formula for a traditional banking institution. And as it has been acknowledged to me by white men that I’ve done business with over the years, the same opportunities available to them historically just haven’t been there for Black women like myself. That’s why I decided to partner with Craft3, a Community Development Financial Institution, when I needed a loan for my business.”
“In the world of business, up to $40 million over five years may not seem like a lot, but it will make a meaningful difference for CDFIs and those that rely on them for support. In 2021, CDFIs invested more than $115 million in our state and offered more than 8,000 hours of technical services such as business coaching to borrowers. With the adoption of the Equitable Access to Credit Act, we are excited to see both of those numbers grow.”
Lauren Anderson and Beto Yarce, Snohomish County
“One of our loan officers, who came from the traditional banking sector before coming to work for SNAP, said that in her old career she had to say ‘no’ a lot, even when she wanted to say ‘yes’ to a great idea that just didn’t fit the financial institution’s lending criteria. My wife and I are proud that she helped us earn a ‘yes.’ We are excited that with this new state fund, so many more people who are used to hearing ‘no’ all the time are now much more likely to celebrate a ‘yes’ so they may pursue their dream.”
“We have helped many people with disabilities in Clark County to afford the technologies they need to improve their quality of life and health. The financial strain of having a disability is significant – a household with a person with a disability requires 28% more income to achieve the same standard of living as a household without a disability. It’s not uncommon for those that we serve to put their basic needs on a credit card, to have gone through a bankruptcy or a disruption in employment. This makes many families unable to qualify for loans and vulnerable to predatory lenders.”