20 | APRIL 15 • 2021
I
n a showing of
cross-community col-
laboration, Hebrew Free
Loan (HFL) is helping Black
Leaders Detroit (BLD) create
a no-interest loan program
to help Detroit’s Black com-
munity in ways it’s helped
Detroit’s Jewish community
for more than 100 years.
David Contorer, executive
director of HFL, and Dwan
Dandridge, CEO of BLD,
met each other in late 2019
at Durfee Innovation Society,
a Detroit opportunity hub.
Their similar mission to
provide capital to people
who couldn’t get it, wheth-
er they’re Jewish or Black,
is what connected them,
Contorer said.
The two exchanged con-
tact info and have been in
touch regularly ever since.
“I loved it right away,”
Contorer said of the part-
nership idea. “We are
in-mission focused solely
on Jewish recipients of our
loans, but it’s not a model I
want to keep in a petri dish.
I’m always looking to share
things that work with other
communities.”
BLD, a charitable orga-
nization launched in 2019,
seeks to provide no-interest
loans to Black entrepreneurs
in Detroit.
“Realizing HFL has been
providing no-interest loans
in the Jewish community
for 125 years, it only made
sense for us to look at a blue-
print that’s been successful,”
Dandridge said. “They’ve
been amazing as far as being
welcoming to us and being
an open book, answering any
questions.”
BLD may tweak their loan
program to fit the communi-
ty they serve, but HFL gives
HFL helps new nonprofi
t get
of
the ground.
Hebrew Free Loan
Partners with Black
Leaders Detroit
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
Fisher Foundation Executive
Director Doug Bitonti Stewart,
Black Leaders Detroit
CEO Dwan Dandridge and
Hebrew Free Loan Detroit
Executive Director David
Contorer from a BLD/HFL/Fisher
Foundation meet-up in 2020.
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