While the headlines talk about the mortgage lending debacle, another type of lending, microfinance, is quietly transforming the lives of many across the globe. Microfinance is the practice of providing small loans, often less than $100, to the working poor. These loans, whether used to buy a goat or a sewing machine, often enable the recipient to become a self-sustaining business owner.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), well known for rushing in to provide emergency disaster assistance around the world, has become a major player in the microfinance world with a program that it began in 1988. The CRS Microfinance Program “serves the poorest clients; links loans to savings; uses solidarity guarantees; practices participatory management; invests up-front in scale and self-sufficiency; and plans for permanence.” By applying Catholic Social Teaching principles, CRS structures a support and training network around the recipients to further promote success for all.
Currently the program reaches over 850,000 clients in 30 countries, 74% of whom are women. It’s amazing how the same amount of money that we spend buying a cup of coffee each morning for a month can have such a profound impact on the life of someone barely able to make ends meet.
If you are looking for a good place to donate some funds this new year, whether spare change or a larger amount, consider the CRS Microfinance Program which will ensure that your donation becomes a valuable investment in another human being.
