Community Loan Fund

Building community requires resources. Those resources can sometimes
be people, giving of their time, energy, motivation and management.
Sometimes the resources needed are concretely financial. There are
several sources of loan funds for both FEC and non-FEC communities.
For any loan, the Applicant will be expected to supply the following
information:
--Purpose for which the money will be used.
--Term of the loan and proposed method of repayment (one lump sum at
the

end, blended monthly payments of principal and interest, etc.).
--Proposed interest rate.
--Explanation of how you will generate the cash flow to repay the
loan.
--What secures the loan in the event that payments are not made when
promised? Depending on the answer here, you may be required to have
individual guarantors provide back-up security for the loan.


1. FEDERATION REVOLVING LOAN FUND
The Federation has established a revolving loan fund for business
initiatives and capital acquisitions of affiliated Federation
communities. A community must be either a full member of officially
recognized group-in-dialog with the Federation to be eligible to
receive a loan from this fund.


This fund is specially earmarked to assist communities who have
limited access to conventional loan money. While the FEC wants every
loan to be repaid on time and in full, financial security is a
secondary concern to developing Federation-style communities. Thus,
we are willing to accept greater risk in offering this form of
support than one might expect at a bank.

The initial capitalization of the fund is $12,500, and, at the
outset, no community will be allowed to borrow more than 25% of the
money. The current fund manager is the Secretary, Parke at
EGFS ([email protected]), who will process loan applications and send action
recommendations to the Executive Committee, who will make the final
decision on the application.
In general, loans will have a term of five years or less, and our
preference is that repayment be in the form of equal monthly or
quarterly payments which a blend of interest and principal. Under
this arrangement, the loan will have been fully repaid by the end of
the term. It will always be permissible to repay the loan early, at
no penalty. Before receiving any money, the applying community will
be expected to sign a promissory note that clearly spells out all
terms.


Applicants will be expected to answer the following questions when
asking for a loan:
-- how much do you want?
-- what will the money be used for?
-- what other debt do you have, and what is the community's net
equity?
-- where do you expect the money for repayment to come from, and what
alternatives do you have if this does not work out as expected? In
the worst case, what backs up the loan?
-- what is an acceptable interest rate for the money you are
requesting?
Please direct any questions or applications to:

[email protected]


2. PEACH

PEACH is a mutual aid health care fund created by and for Federation
communities. FEC member communities are automatically eligible to
join the program; other income-sharing communities may participate by invitation.
Since start up in 1986, the fund has grown to approximately $500,000
in net assets. At any given time, about half of these funds are
loaned out to support the development of intentional
communities--mainly loans for businesses, capital improvements, or
buying property. While preferential consideration is given to loan
requests from FEC communities, PEACH makes loans throughout the
communities movement and invites requests for any community-related
activity. Acceptability, terms, and size of the loan are negotiated
on a case-by-case basis.


Inquiries about loans or program operations should be directed to the PEACH administrator:
Laird Schaub

Rt 1, Box 155

Rutledge MO 63563

660-883-5545

[email protected]


3. FELLOWSHIP FOR INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY LOAN FUND
Capitalized at about $40,000, this money is basically earmarked for
community businesses. Secondary consideration will be given to
non-community organizations with movement connections. Because of the
fund's limited

capital, we can only make small loans for land acquisition. We have
several times made small loans to provide initial credibility for
groups starting to assemble a larger loan package.


Federation communities will be given equal preference as

other communities. Maximum loan size is $5000.

Inquiries and applications should be directed to:
FIC Loan Fund

c/o Harvey Baker

518 Penny Ln

Waynesboro TN 38485

931-722-9201

[email protected]