MAY 13 • 2021 | 15

who will complete her two-year 
term as president in June. She was 
impressed by how quickly staff and 
volunteers adapted to 
remote operations. 
“They didn’t miss a 
beat,
” she said. “The 
office ran like clock-
work, and we didn’t 
have any layoffs or 
furloughs.
” And HFL 
gave borrowers a three-
month extension on 
repayments, if request-
ed. 
One thing hasn’t 
changed over the years: 
Hebrew Free Loan col-
lects on 99 percent of its 
loans. 
Incoming presi-
dent David Kramer 
of Bloomfield Hills is 
looking for ways to 
expand HFL
’s reach. He 
hopes to establish loan 
opportunities that will encourage 
young Jewish adults to remain in the 

Detroit area — or to relocate here.
Executive Director David 
Contorer, who succeeded Keane in 
2011, agrees. He says Hebrew Free 
Loan wants the public to know that 
“interest-free loans are like stem 
cells. They can be used to help with 
almost anything.
”

HFL
’S OFFERINGS
The organization’s activities fall into 
four main categories, said Contorer:
• Personal loans can help appli-
cants buy a car, cover medical 
expenses, send a child to camp or 
celebrate a bar mitzvah or wedding. 
After the Detroit area’s big flood 
in August 2014, HFL made many 
loans for home repairs. In 2018, HFL 
launched a program to help appli-
cants consolidate high-interest debt. 
Most personal loans are $10,000 or 
less, though HFL will consider up to 
$20,000 help with the cost of adop-
tion or in-vitro fertilization.
• The William Davidson Jewish 
College Loan Program offers stu-

Carolyn 
Tisdale

David 
Kramer

David 
Contorer

 
Hanna Berlin:

Financing
Medical School

Hanna Berlin was thrilled to be start-
ing medical school at the University of 
Michigan but a little concerned about 
how to come up with $36,000 for tui-
tion, not to mention additional funds 
for living expenses.
“My parents generously contributed 
to my undergraduate education, but 
we had agreed early on that I would 
be responsible for any post-graduate 
training,” said Berlin, 28. She is about 
to graduate with her M.D. degree and 
move from Ann Arbor to Royal Oak 
to begin a residency in obstetrics 
and gynecology at William Beaumont 
Hospital.
She had a bit of an “in” at Hebrew 
Free Loan: Her mother, Cheryl Berlin, 
has worked there as a loan program 
officer for more than 10 years. There’s 
another family connection: Cheryl 

Berlin discovered that her grandfather, 
Maxwell Berlin, took out a loan from 
Hebrew Free Loan in the 1930s to 
make a house payment.
Hanna Berlin had borrowed $7,500 
every year from Hebrew Free Loan’s 
William Davidson Jewish College 
Loan Program to pay for her under-
graduate degree at U-M.
“After graduating, I worked as 
a medical assistant and saved up 
money while applying to medical 
school,” Berlin said. “I was able to 
defer on paying my loans at that time, 
and thankfully did not have to worry 
about interest accruing while I worked 
on getting my footing in the profes-
sional world and pursuing my dream 
of becoming a physician.”
For medical school, Berlin was 
able to borrow $10,000 a year from 
Hebrew Free Loan. It didn’t cover 
all her costs, but it gave her some 
breathing room.
“I was able to focus on my studies 
and wellbeing rather than suffer under 

crushing financial stress,” she said. 
“Perhaps, even more importantly, I felt 
invested in by my community, and a 
duty to fulfill something larger than 
myself.”
Berlin expects to pay off all her 
loans within 10 years. She looks for-
ward to being able to give back to the 
Jewish community someday by con-
tributing to Hebrew Free Loan herself.

continued on page 16

Mongers Provisions 
gourmet cheese shop 
and more of Ferndale 
and Detroit got some 
“cheddar” from 
Hebrew Free Loan to 
start its business.

Loan applicants have always been treated with respect at HFL.

Over 125 years, HFL’s proccesses have changed, but not its core values.

