Episcopal Press and News
Pennsylvania Episcopalians Launch Investment Program for Low-cost Housing
Episcopal News Service. October 31, 1990 [90276]
Episcopalians in the Philadelphia area have launched an investment program in partnership with a fund that provides low-cost housing in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Bishop Allen L. Bartlett of the Diocese of Pennsylvania announced the $1 million investment in the Delaware Valley Community Reinvestment Fund, October 18, at a news conference during the diocesan convention. He described the investment as "a commitment of faith in the Philadelphia region, a way of recommitting ourselves to the future of the Delaware Valley."
Bartlett added that, while the city of Philadelphia's financial picture "is very dark, we are very excited to be establishing a program through which private investors are committing themselves to community projects in which even small loans are the difference between empty lots and thriving blocks." It is projected that in the next five years Episcopalian institutions, parishes, and individuals could add another $5 million to the Episcopal Community Investment Program. The program is a diocesan response to the Michigan Plan, adopted at the 1988 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, challenging the church and its members to participate in community revitalization.
"The purpose of the Delaware Valley Community Reinvestment Fund is to break down credit barriers which perpetuate poverty," said the fund's founding director, Jeremy Nowak. "Credit is a human right. By making loans to housing and economic development projects that cannot obtain traditional financing, we help capable community groups complete and sustain projects in their neighborhoods -- ranging from houses to businesses, and including social service and cultural programs." The fund has loaned over $2.4 million since it was founded in 1985, leading to the creation of 250 housing units. No investor has lost money and no borrower has missed a payment, according to fund officials.
The Rev. James Trimble, rector of historic Christ Church in Philadelphia, was an early investor and member of the program's monitoring committee. Even though the parish's $100,000 investment will earn about 3 percent less by participating in the fund than it would earn if it were invested in other financial instruments, Trimble said, "It's a matter of justice. If the Christian church doesn't stand for justice, it might as well close its doors." He said that he sees the involvement as a clear demonstration of the church's tangible concerns and commitments.