business & professional
Modeling Success
Hebrew Free Loan guides Chaldean
community on launching loan fund.
Ryan Fishman
Special to the Jewish News
W
ith more identifiable similari-
ties than differences, it makes
sense that Detroit's Chaldean
community has often followed the path
of the region's Jewish community. The
Chaldean Loan Fund is just one more
example. Modeled after Hebrew Free Loan
(HFL), it's designed to provide low-interest
loans to help community members buy
used vehicles.
The organization was started by the
Chaldean Community Foundation, look-
ing for a solution to the financial struggles
of many Iraqi refugees. The foundation
partnered with Bank of Michigan to launch
the loan fund and guarantees each loan so
there's no risk to the bank. To qualify, loan
candidates must be Iraqi Christian immi-
grants, current refugees or green card hold-
ers, and they must have a job, be current on
any outstanding loans or have a co-signer.
The loan fund was planned and initi-
ated by Michael George, who sits on the
loan approval committee and the board of
directors for the Chaldean Federation of
America. George recognized that it's nearly
impossible to get around without a car, and
that lack of transportation, whether to get
to work or the grocery store, is one of the
biggest challenges for new refugees.
"We were able to find refugees jobs
but they couldn't get to them. I did some
research to find federal programs to help,
Title Source Hiring
250 Workers In Detroit
Title Source, the nation's largest inde-
pendent provider of title insurance,
property valuations and settlement
services, will be locating an additional
550 people in the burgeoning tech-
nology district at Campus Martius in
Downtown Detroit.
Title Source moved 200 team mem-
bers to the company's headquarters
in the historic First National Building
April 25. Last July, the company moved
1,500 team members to the First
National Building, located at the south-
east corner of Campus Martius Park in
Detroit.
In addition, Title Source is in the pro-
cess of hiring 250 new, full-time team
members and 100 summer interns who
will also be located at its Detroit head-
quarters. Positions are available in all
areas of the company, including tech-
nology, title clearance, training, market-
ing and more.
"We're excited to bring more of our
42
May 9 • 2013
came across the Hebrew Free Loan and vis-
ited with its administrators to see if we could
duplicate it," George said.
That first meeting took place in 2009, but
the program was stalled by the recession,
which affected donations. As the economy
improved, George worked with the Chaldean
Community Foundation, and together they
launched the program last year.
"When I started, I saw the file, and
that my predecessor,
Mary Keane, had met
with some leaders in
the Chaldean commu-
nity, and I thought it was
great:' explained HFL
Executive Director David
Contorer. "This program
grew out of the same
David
needs in the Chaldean
Contorer
community that the
Jewish community experienced when we
got started in 1895. A group of 10 business
leaders put together some money to help
new immigrants start businesses, buy cars
and clothes, or to bring their families to
America:'
Contorer reached out to Chaldean
Chamber of Commerce President Martin
Manna through Facebook to introduce
himself after taking the reins at HFL, hop-
ing to help him with the program, and
Manna took him up on the offer.
"I heard Martin wanted to launch a low-
interest entrepreneurial fund and thought
I could offer some advice, so we picked a
team members to
Detroit to join our
ongoing efforts to
reinvigorate this
great city," says Jeff
Eisenshtadt, president
of Title Source. "We
are nearly one year
Jeff
into our transition and
Eisenshtadt
our team members
have fully embraced the atmosphere
and activities only available downtown."
Once Title Source fills these posi-
tions, it will have more than 2,000 team
members in Downtown Detroit. The
company has more than doubled its size
in the last three years.
Kindness Campaign Marks
Cadillac Travel's 30 Years
Over the past 30 years, there have been
extensive changes within the travel
industry. The Internet has helped trans-
form the travel industry.
"It helps educate the consumer by
providing vast amounts of information
Iraqi immigrant Wasan Wartan received a car loan from Chaldean Loan Fund,
modeled after Hebrew Free Loan.
date and I sat down with Martin and Mike
George so they could learn more about our
business loan fund," Contorer said.
"We helped the Arab Community Center
for Economic & Social Services with a simi-
lar project in the Arab and Muslim com-
munities, and I'm willing to meet and help
anybody with this model. We don't have
a patent on microloans that help people
get on their feet. It's universal, it works for
almost any community, and we share a
common interest:" he added.
There are some differences between the
HFL model and the Chaldean Community
Foundation's program. HFL offers no-
interest loans, as required by the Torah,
while the Chaldean Community Foundation
charges 5 to no more than 8 percent inter-
est. Loans are available up to $5,000.
Another difference, Contorer explains, is
that the Chaldean Community Foundation
hasn't put together a formalized board of
involved community members and donors.
"I explained to them that I'm primarily a
fundraiser, in addition to running this orga-
nization, and you can't make the loan until
you have the dollars raised and the donors
engaged with supporters on multiple fronts:'
Contorer said. "They don't have a network of
donors yet, and that's the biggest difference.
"In our community, we had Max Fisher,
we have the Hermelins and other generous
families, and that's where our dollars come
from. It's specific to the Jewish community,
and I don't know if there's anything like that
in the Chaldean community:"
Contorer said in their meeting, he shared
as much as he could, helping to map out
organizational infrastructure and offering
to help develop marketing materials.
"We showed them how to design a board,
how to target the dollars and gave them the
basic sales pitch. This is a recycling loan
fund, so a donor gives you a contribution,
you loan it out to someone to get a car, he
pays it back, and three years later someone
else uses the same money to go to school.
That person pays it back, and five years
later someone else comes along to get a loan
for his or her business. That same $25,000
does $100,000 in good over those 10 years.
This is how you pitch it, and how you raise
the money," Contorer said.
HFL, with Contorer at the helm, extends
the same invitation to the leaders of any
community, to learn about how the orga-
nization works and to apply the model in
their own neighborhoods.
about destinations and different travel
options," says David Fishman, president
of Cadillac Travel Group, a Michigan-
owned and operated company.
The Internet has
become an integral
part of the growth of
Cadillac Travel as the
business enters its 30th
year in business.
"We want to help our
clients save time and
David Fishman money. But to make
the Internet work effec-
tively, a person has to understand where
to look and what questions to ask, other-
wise ultimately your end result can just
be hours wasted with no results. This is
where a travel professional can make a
huge difference:' says Fishman.
In celebration of 30 years in business,
Cadillac Travel will give back to the
community with Acts of Kindness and
is inviting southeast Michigan elemen-
tary, middle and high school students
from public and private institutions to
write a short essay describing the teach-
er who inspired and changed their life.
The winning teacher and one guest
will be awarded by Cadillac Travel
Group of Southfield a four- or five-night
cruise in an ocean view stateroom on a
Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The prize
also includes round-trip airfare, taxes,
gratuities and transfers for winner and
guest, to the cruise ship port city. The
student who writes the winning essay
will receive an iPad.
In addition, "We will work with local
agencies such as Capuchin Soup Kitchen
in feeding and showering the hungry,
with our very own Shower Them with
Kindness program," Fishman says.
The Shower Them with Kindness
program allows travelers to collect hotel
soaps and shampoos and drop them to
Cadillac Travel to be delivered to the
homeless who will have a hot shower
and good meal at Capuchin Soup
Kitchen.
For more information, visit www.
cadillactravel.com .
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