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. 

OUR COMMUNITY

Stay in the know 
with all things Jewish...

Get The Detroit Jewish News print edition
delivered to your door every week for less
than $2 per issue.

thejewishnews.com/subscription

Get The Detroit Jewish News print edition
Subscribe Today!

5829 Maple Rd. Ste. 129 
West Bloomf
 eld, MI 48322

248.757.2503

www.maplepharmacyrx.com

FREE
DELIVERY

MAKE MAPLE PHARMACY… YOUR PHARMACY!
MAKE MAPLE PHARMACY… YOUR PHARMACY!

OUR MISSION IS TO BRING SERVICE BACK TO 
PHARMACY FOR A HAPPIER, HEALTHIER YOU!!

10% 
SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT
Not Valid on Prescriptions

Maple Pharmacy offers:

• Low Price Medications

• 90 Day Supplies

• Durable Medical Equipment

• Diabetic Supplies

• Natural Supplements, Vitamins 
and Nutraceuticals

• Compounding bio-identical hormones, 
pain creams & other medications

• Blister Packaging Available

MAPLE
MAPLE PHARMACY
PHARMACY

IMMUNIZATIONS
AND SHINGLES
SHOTS AVAILABLE

www.maplepharmacyrx.com

Now offering
the Moderna 
COVID
Vaccine!