Self-Help Shares


Shifting Away from Inequities in the Energy Sector

By Melissa Malkin-Weber, Sustainability Director
  | Oct 08, 2020

Environmental justice = Economic justice

Self-Help's Director of Sustainability, Melissa Malkin-Weber, reports on the Just Energy Summit, held last week. The conference focused on how racial inequities play out in the energy sector, imposing disproportionate costs and greater health risks on Black communities and other communities of color. Organized by Partnership for Southern Equity, the Just Energy Summit brought together activists, scientific, and policy experts to educate and share ideas for change. The event shone a light on how the threads of pollution, poverty and racism are inextricably intertwined.

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PPP Loans: Keeping Women in Business

By staff
  | Sep 24, 2020

3 Bennett College students

Self-Help has a long history of mission-focused loans and products that help empower women financially. When the COVID pandemic struck, we hit the ground running with relief loans through the Paycheck Protection Program--and we knew that we wanted a strong focus on women-led companies and nonprofits. When the last round of PPP lending wrapped up in August, we had achieved that goal. Nearly half of our PPP loans (47%) went to nonprofits or companies headed by women. In this post, we highlight a few examples.

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Introducing the CDFI Racial Equity Collaborative on Education

By Brittany Bennett
  | Sep 10, 2020

Henderson Collegiate good photo

Recently Self-Help has partnered with other Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to find ways to make racial equity an integral part of our charter school lending process. In this post, Self-Help's Charter School Sector Leader, Brittany Bennett, describes how this effort has resulted in the development of an equity assessment tool that is already helping CDFIs incorporate equity into their loan decisions. 

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Announcing Self-Help's 2020 Scholarship Winners

By staff
  | Aug 28, 2020

Scholarship collage

Congratulations to 27 students who were named as Self-Help Scholars this year! Please take a moment to check out some of our leaders of the future.

 

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Successful Transitions: Preparing to Go from Unemployment to Work

By staff
  | Jul 29, 2020

First graduating class of "Successful Transitions: Scaling the Benefits Cliff"

Self-Help has teamed up with other local organizations in Asheville, North Carolina to offer supportive and practical financial education for people making the transition to employment. With a team of wonderful partners, we have organized a program called “Successful Transitions: Scaling the Benefits Cliff.”

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Buying a Home in the Time of COVID

By staff
  | Jul 16, 2020

Shondra Tanner, Jajuan Monroe and Sharita Hines in Raleigh branch 2020

Self-Help's lending offices aren't open now, but that doesn't mean we aren't lending. Recently we talked to Self-Help’s Director of Mortgage Originations, Shondra Tanner, who answered questions about current lending processes, underwriting guidelines, and her personal passion for helping future homeowners.

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Our Annual Report: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

By staff
  | Jul 02, 2020

Fresno church

There are lots of reasons to produce an annual report. One is to document our work and express gratitude to all the members and partners who made it possible. This report also helps us remember that all of today’s work would not have been possible without all that has come before. With your help, Self-Help remains in a strong position to pursue our mission today.

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Celebrating Juneteenth, Strong Court Decisions & Strong Advocacy

By staff
  | Jun 19, 2020

Juneteenth graphic

Happy Juneteenth! It was an eventful week, with two strong Supreme Court decisions and a U.S. House committee hearing on PPP relief. We cover some of the highlights here.

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Helping Small Businesses & Nonprofits Survive with PPP Funds

By staff
  | Apr 29, 2020

Small business owner wearing COVID mask

As a long-time SBA lender, Self-Help began taking PPP applications on April 6. As of May 17, 2020, we had received SBA approval for $161 million in loans to serve 1,184 applicants. Sixty-eight percent of the loan dollars went to nonprofits. Altogether, we helped applicants continue employing 17,000 people.

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Protecting Your Relief Funds: Watch Out for Scammers

By staff
  | Apr 10, 2020

Hand holding block letters that spell "SCAM"

The coronavirus isn’t the only thing that has been spreading in recent weeks. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general all over the country have reported an uptick in deceptive scams, many of them tied directly to COVID-19. These scams can be alarming and very costly, often draining victims of hundreds or thousands of dollars.

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