PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN HARDWICK

jews in the d

Emily Levine and Brett Willner in front of their
home in Detroit’s Boston Edison District

Help For T
Young Jewish
Homeowners

Hebrew Free Loan launches
“Move-In Detroit” for
fi rst-time homeowners.

BECKY HURVITZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

hinking about making the move
to Detroit? There may be no better
time than now. For young Jewish
adults currently renting in or moving to
the city, the decision to buy a home just got
easier thanks to a new loan program from
Hebrew Free Loan.
While purchasing property is a big
step, and often a pricey one, the Move-In
Detroit program makes planting roots in
Detroit more attainable for first-time home
buyers — proving once again that one of
our community’s oldest agencies is still one
of its most innovative.
Since 1895, Hebrew Free Loan Detroit
(HFL) has been distributing interest-free
loans, allowing community members to
access the things they need and want to
better their lives. That’s 123 years of inter-
est-free lending and, as one can imagine,
what people want and need loans for has
certainly changed over the last century.
“Our loan programs are always evolving
and expanding, and we’ve adapted dollar
amounts to existing loans to respond to
our community’s demographic changes
and trends, technological advancements
and what’s needed in the here and now,”
said David Contorer, executive director of
Hebrew Free Loan Detroit.
Hebrew Free Loan’s success at responding

to changing times is evident in some of its
most recent programs. The Marvin I. Danto
Small Business Loan Program allowed HFL
to increase its small business loans from
$15,000 to $100,000 in 2012, keeping entre-
preneurs here in Michigan at a time when
many were looking to launch businesses
elsewhere.
The William Davidson Jewish College
Loan Program addressed the hike in tuition
costs beginning in 2014, following the more
limited size of the college loans in the prior
JELS program, and offers loans for up to
$7,500 for undergraduates and $10,000 for
graduate students.
As high-interest debt become a pervasive
problem in the community, a debt consol-
idation loan program was launched. And
when the cost of in vitro fertilization made
starting a family financially unattainable for
many, HFL expanded its personal loan pro-
gram to cover treatments.
So, when Peggy Daitch and Peter
Remington wanted to do something truly
innovative and transformational for the
community, a collaboration with Hebrew
Free Loan was the perfect fit.
“We knew our interest was in growing
the scale and vitality of the young Jewish
community, now and in the future,” Daitch
said. “We also had the personal experience

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October 18 • 2018

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