In order to facilitate affordable lending programs that support underserved communities, Community Credit Lab always works in partnership with other nonprofits and social enterprises. We are inspired by the tireless work that people at these organizations do to connect their community members to the right support, resources and tools to navigate the complex systems we live in. And we get most excited when we are collaborating to remove financial barriers for people facing discrimination by designing and implementing affordable loan programs together.

COVID-19 has magnified the economic inequalities that exist in our region making programs that are run by our nonprofit partners increasingly important. For Community Credit Lab, COVID-19 has impacted the timing of grant applications from philanthropic organizations, limiting our ability to run affordable loan programs for underserved communities that support economic mobility and financial stability. To be able to continue supporting this work, individual monthly donation support is more crucial now.

At Community Credit Lab, we get capital to underserved communities on their terms. The impetus for this was our frustration with another global pandemic, known as the poverty premium, that traps people with fewer resources in cycles of poverty due to extractive, higher interest rates. At CCL, we reverse this by providing regenerative lending at 0% interest to support people who need access to credit most.

The first lending program we launched last fall was to support foreign educated nurses on their journey to becoming Registered Nurses in the U.S. by providing $500 loans for them to take a prep course to convert their foreign credentials. At the time, we could never have known how important and urgent the need for nurses in our community would be. As a result of this program, we're excited that 10 nurses are about to enter Seattle's healthcare system as their services could not be more needed than now. If it's of interest, please take 5 mins to watch this video from our partner on the importance of this program here.