. good morning, and welcome to mosaic. i am rabbi eric weisen. faith communities across the country have been serious conversations about their own economic health envoy tality. we would like to invite you into a wonderful e exbee of hebrew anwelcome. thanyou. >> wee loan. >> she brow free loan to discuss it is really to talk about its history where 120

years old. which is a very special time for us. we have been celebrating all year. we have reached the . we were created in 1897 by a group of people who were studying the torah because really, the mission of our agency comes directly from the torah. and the group of individuals took a lock and said, look at this, and it shows in the torah that god tells most he is not to charge interest to his people, and that it is important not to benefit on another person's trouble and they created acts of loving coinedness later became known as the hebrew free loan and they aged to tot until each mon until they had enough to make their first loan.

and the loans are 120 years later, interest free, primarily to members jewish mount and they are paid back over time. we have an amazing repayment rate still 120 years later of repayment rate is 99.97%. >> let's talk a little more about concrete programs and we have a few people who will talk in a personal way about the way they elevated their own economic health and vitality. but if we rewind to 1897 in san francisco, in the state of california, can you talk a little bit t was going on that actually have them say we need to do this on behalf of our community for our future. but a it's quite a vision and legacy. >> it is. and it's one that i am proud to help usher into this century, and beyond. what they were facing at the

time, when you think of the california gold rush, we had a lot of immigrants who were new to the community and part of the effort to, you know, pave a better path for their families. and jews coming here faced anti- semitism and it was difficult for them to get any kind of financial support that others might be able to avail themselves of, and so this was an opportunity to provide for their own members of the community by donating a little bit of pony to create that pool of funds. so, think there were some very real economic hardships they were all facing at the time. and they felt it would make it a little easier. >> so you know, 1897, to 2017,. >> right. >> is just interesting no mattt pocal frbay area, our ste, ion the wl

issues around how people come anew to a place whether you are an immigrant or transplant, the way you come to a place with a new vision and you have a lot of energy but may not have the money and that's the page. >> exactly now wonder as we turn to folks who benefited, focus on the economic marriage of how you bring human capacity to an economic support system and what that does to build resilience in community. >> well, thank you for that question. our mission is really to help people become and remain self- sufficient at the core what have we do. and we do that by means of providing interest free an

environment where they don't have that family support to provide the necessary financial means. we are like an extended family offering that key to the future whether it is to help them get back on track financially, we offer personal loans, emergency loans, unemployment loans, and anything debt consolidation loans where people are having financial troubles. and we also provide loans like family for people are trying to fulfill their dreams. so, it might be education loans or business loans, adoption and fertility loans. >> wow. a range of issues that influence economic vitality. we will take a quick brick and come back to the conversation with cindy with hebrew free loan in moment.

. good morning, and welcome back to mosaic i am rabbi eric weisen we are in the middle of a wonderful the executive director of hebrew free loan and with is greg matt, a business recipient from hebrew free

loan. welcome back. >> thank you so much. >> so greg, let's jump in and ask you what your experience is with hebrew free loan. >> sure. well, a while back, i had dream of starting my own food truck. it was actually a phil's coffee truck so i was with a company for many years and decided to start something fresh and new, and wanted to build on my self and got the approval and okay from phil. and but the only caveat i had to fund it and build it and design it. i was excited until i got to a . which are wasn't able to find the funds, and was running no all kinds of probable be recommends with banks and so forth because i had no prior experience in owning a business. and so, i was ere's a practice as a hebrew free loan, towelly, from my mom, who used to work for an agency with

cindy in the past. she said look itp and check it out. i went in and met sendy and told her about my concept and idea and passions and with a and what he wanted to do and she was very supportive and went through the process of making it happen. and yeah, so, that's how it happened. >> you know, in a moment, it will be interesting to talk about the process of doing this, and how hebrew free loans sees its role in it. with you live a part of a country in a steer typical way but in lived truth day to day is filled with this notion of the human spirit and ideas and entrepreneurism and how you make a dream come true. i am wondering as you were thinking through your dream of doing things, what was it about this dream? was it about a food truck and how did you come to this kind

of concept so you could go into cindy and hebrew free loan and answer basic questions about how come a food truck and how come phil's coffee? why this, why that? if you can give us a little bit of your entrepreneurial spit and a sense of what entrepreneurial spirit and what it was for you now wanted to work for myself and have something of my own and spend -- i wanted something bigger than me, and i always believed in our company and what we tried to do. and phil's coffee gave meet opportunity to have it came in the form of a food truck. and i was passionate about it. i am excited about it. and so, i was determined to do whatever it took to make it happen. i basically wanted to help him grow the company in other ways, and yet have something that i

could call my own. and that's the whole idea to have start in business, and make it happen. and that was it. >> wonderful. >> it was really that drive when he came into the office. he had the drive and the business loan applicants, i could tell he had an idea and he had a path and he knew what he needed to do to make successful and he was organized and clear and i could see it was a viable business and successful people who evaluated it. i saw he had the drive to see the plan through. and that's really what impressed me about greg. >> can you give us a little bit of a sense of what happens on

the inside about how hoe brow free loan comes to a yes, passion, business plan, other elements, what gets to a yes? >> well, first of all, there is a lengthier process for business loans than other loan requests that come our way. but it really is meant to vet the business, the viability of the business plan. and we look at the financials and projections for the coming year. we look at the assumptions that are made behind the proexceptions and we look at perceptions and the support, financial and otherwise to make sure they can weather storms and we like to see our funds that we provide, will provide up to $50,000 for a business loan, sometimes that's all the person needs, sometimes it's a piece of the puzzle but we like to understand how the

money will fit into the overall plan. >> we have to take a break, but before we do, greg, can you just give us a sense of what keeps you going in your business? what is it that drives you and feeds you as you move forward? >> that's a great question because when you go into business, there's a lot of ups and downs, you know. you will have the good days fun days and you will have some down days. but what copes keeps me going is we are part of a community and we show up, and we have people that love us, support us, and have done for many, many years. so, i am doing it caus number one have built a great team, and we are offering people jobs, you know. it's something that i always believe in. so if you grow the business you are helping not only yourself, but it's peeping around you. and, of course, just being

there for those, you know, clientele of yours, their families, and people who believe in you, it's something to thrive on. and just the nature of growth, you know. and owing and doing bigger and better things. >> thank you so much. we are going to say good bye to greg in a moment and return here to mosaic and have the conversation continue with cindy and hebrew free loan.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. i am rabbi eric weisen and we are in wonderful conversation how the jewish communities locks at resilience in the community and economic vitality

and this is the executive director at hebrew free loan and terry low was a recipient so let at it loan has been. >> yeah, so i received an unemployment loan i was laid off from my job it was 2012 and we were coming out of the recession, and i lot of my job. for mow, it happened at a time when all the other things in my life were going, more tension than i could imagine i was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to put up my house for short sale so we lost the family home and i had a teenage son who is older now, he was a and went through a serious mental health crisis. i was dealing with all these things and i didn't know how we were going to survive.

a friend suggested hebrew free loan. >> and so you wept and got an unemployment loan. >> officially the name of the program is recent unemployment. somebody has to have been unemployed sometime in the past year. and it is meant to be jewish unemployment and should up is supplement what you go from the state. >> and i am wondering if you can talk a little about yo experience with terry or terry you chime in, about the ways in which you use the loan because an unemployment loan is different than building a business loan and you have a different way of understanding coming through an economic challenge and how did you come through the

unemployment and the ways the financial assistance pepped you, i am not sure the right word but bridge your life to the next p land ol ay. that's a great question. so the way unemployment loan works is you are a lotted a certain amount of money every month for six months if you remain unemployed and you have to check in with cindy once a month or with your loan officer once a month to let them know how it's going, your job search, et cetera et cetera, so that was actually a big form of support i would check in with cindy and she asked me how the job search was going and connect me with people saying have you talked to this or that person. so it was a practical support and just helped me to pay the bills during that period, and then even mo -- it felt like a very big

emotional support. who else but your family will give you a loan? i don't have a job. all these expenses, i am not shower when i can repay you but i am sure i can. but unemployment loan you don't have to repay it for three months after you gotten last loan check so you have nine months interest free no loan payments who else can you get to help you. >> this story reminds me, looking back a little bit to going greg's story if you go to a financial institution you get loan is on an economic filter. and the relationship is from the financial institution is we want by x date of a month x dollars to repay and that's it. and that's the limit relationship. but through hebrew free loan it seems that you are engaging the whole person so

whether it's a business loan or other loan there's a certain assistance that you are getting so it's actually a kind of emotional assistance, economic assistance, consultation that really they are all different human element that build resilience. and if you could talk about that holistic approach is about in the sustainability of finances. >> sure. to me, it's essential because as you mentioned, as terry described her situation, there were so many more things going on in her life than simply needing an infusion of cash. and we see ourselves as somewhere between a family, a social service agency and financial institution. we are all of that rolled into one. and we try to meet people where they are at. every person who comes in and has an initial need for cash, we get to know them as a

person, that's a large part, we believe, and also self-serving way, why we have such a high repayment rate because we build those connections with people that are lifelong. i could tell you stories about just about every loan recipient who walked through the doors. we get to know them as people. they get to know us and foal a commitment to repaying us, and we feel a commitment to help them in every aspect of their life if weep the ability to do so. >> wonderful. we will take break and come back on mosaic in a moment. .

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for more information about hebrew free loan, please visit the website at www.hflasf.org. or call 415-546-9902. welcome back to mosaic, i am honored to be your host. we are in the middle of the wonderful conversation of the economic viability of jewish communities and this is the executive director of hebrew free loan and terry low waloan so, terry i understand there's a wonderful evolution in your story withwe, there is. and this is not what happens with most of our unployment loa

you want to tell what happened. >> it was actually a few years after she received the unemployment loan that we posted that we had a job available and terry contacted me and said do you think i might be appropriate for this job. she was working and resolved a lot of her financial woes, and other troubles, and i said you would be perfect for this job. she had really impressed me during the interview period and beyond. and i was delighted to bring her on board because who better to interview potential loan recipients but someone who had been through it on the other side. so, today, terry is a loan offers with us and development associate helping to raise funds for the agency. >> you know, it reminds me that any agency has lots of

components that makes it viable. talk about the broader approach? how do hebrew free loan itself receive funds to otherwise distribute back to the community. you mentioned in 1897 a few men gave quarters and createed that first initial pot, and can you talk about what that initial pot looks like and if you can also tie in in this way we have talked about a holistic approach as people become more economic viable they give back and i wonder if you have anyways people are philanthropists themselves and gib back at large. >> . are still dependent upon donations from the community, 120 years later. r different. the first loan was $10 back in 1897. today, we have over $15 million in assets, most of that is out

in the community. and we have almost 10 million in the community helping over a thousand loan recipients. and as they pay that money back, we move the money forward to help others. but we are always trying to grow that pot because the more we have in assets, more we are able to give out to members of the community. and the rest is invested. and this is a large part of what terry is helping us with. we definitely, to answer your question, you can tell a little about the full circle club. we have a program to help people who have been loan recipients who come full circle from being a borrower to a donor. >> wow. believe it or not we have just 30 seconds left, you say in a mt hopeople mibe able tul contact hebrew free loan and they can get on the website and we have a brand new website with a very user friendly donation page. they can call us and we have the full circle club has

periodic gatherings, but we welcome people. >> wonderful. >> cindy, terry, thanks so much for being with us with this wonderful conversation and we encourage you to think about this in our community and at large and thanks for joining us here on mosaic. watch cbs in bay area with the kpix 5 news app.

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