Andy Posner, president and CEO of the Capital Good Fund, joined Local Return board member Jessica David to talk about the lessons he’s learned over 12 years of providing an alternative to predatory payday loans. Capital Good Fund has saved clients an estimated $5.5 million, and borrowers increase their credit scores by an average of…
Guest commentary: The Economic Progress Institute
For local communities to fully reclaim finance as a tool for generating prosperity, we must remove the obstacle of payday lending. Disproportionately concentrated in majority Black communities, payday lenders like to claim they are providing much-needed funds to people who have no other recourse. This claim is wrong on two counts. First, payday lenders are…
Guest commentary: Jo Detz, ecoRI News
When I read your call to action, I immediately thought of South Providence and the consistent disinvestment in that community, which is bearing the brunt of many polluting businesses along the Port of Providence. There has been much attention to environmental racisism, equity, inclusion, and equitable solutions at the city level with respect to communities…
A Call to Action: Building Local Wealth and Resilience
COVID has changed us. The global pandemic has hit home — for many of us, quite literally, in sickness, death of a loved one, loss of a job or business, or drastically different daily realities. We are hopeful to see vaccinations and signs of reemergence, but many of us are still grieving, exhausted, and wary…