Supporting Quality Care and Education
Child care. True community-building must extend beyond housing and direct economic development. Quality child care is essential to supporting working parents and giving kids a healthy start in life. More than two decades ago, Self-Help was an early pioneer in providing financing for child care providers, with a focus on female business owners who serve low-income communities. We have provided more than 400 child care loans, enabling our borrowers to create or maintain more than 23,000 spaces.
Public charter schools. Self-Help began lending to public charter schools in 1998, seeking to support social entrepreneurs who were working to provide strong educational choices in low-income communities. We focus on high-performing schools that prioritize service to low-income children. In all, we have provided $238 million in financing through more than 120 charter school loans, helping our borrowers create or maintain more than 42,000 student spaces.
Success for Every Student
Blackstone Valley Prep (BVP) is a nonprofit public charter school in Rhode Island that serves mostly low-income elementary students. A $3.9 million loan from Self-Help helped BVP expand to accommodate nearly 1,000 more students.