The National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis (NCJWSTL) is expanding their Healing Hearts Bank micro-lending program, and is looking for more volunteers. This community service project provides microloans to underserved women and families to help them further their financial independence and improve their credit scores. Partner agencies refer clients in need to NCJW, which works with them to help process and make the loans.
Since opening the first Healing Hearts Bank Branch in 2011, these loans have helped borrowers find safe housing, start businesses, improve their credit scores, find/support employment and fulfill goals to help them achieve financial independence. The program now serves more than 15 agencies.
What does it take to be a volunteer—just an interest in helping others. NCJWSTL will train you, and the majority of the time commitment is flexible – about one hour a month.
The program is chaired by Patti Teper and Arlene Baer and was founded by Marilyn Ratkin in 2011. It’s the perfect place to get involved and know that you are immediately making a difference in someone’s life. You’ll learn how to review loan applications and speak to/support borrowers monthly. No prior knowledge is needed.
Contact Renee Sigel-Hearst at [email protected] or call her at 314-993-5181 for more information. Anyone can volunteer—you don’t have to be a member of NCJWSTL nor do you have to be a woman!
Story from a Borrower
Better Family Life Borrower, Brenda Smith, Owner of A Little Something Sweet (Kakes) – Smith decorated cakes for years, dreaming of how to make it her full-time career. She attended an entrepreneurial class at Better Family Life in order to learn the skills she would need to start her own bakery. Her instructors encouraged her to apply for a Healing Hearts Bank loan in order to buy a piece of equipment that would help her decorate cakes faster.
After paying off her loan, Smith took the leap and quit her job as a school bus driver to focus on developing her business called Something Sweet (Kakes). Today, her dream is a reality, and by paying back her loan, she has helped other Healing Hearts Bank participants’ dreams come true.
Story from a client contact
YWCA client contact and Economic Empowerment Manager, Olivia Adams, is extraordinarily energetic and quite supportive of her client Borrowers. The past fiscal year she counseled them on 29 loans for a total of $15,000. Adams was honored as an Unsung Hero by the St. Louis Jewish Light in 2022.
