LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville nonprofit is offering help for people in the city's underserved communities to become home owners and small business owners.
LHome, a Community Development Financial Institution, offers small business, home repair and energy efficiency low-interest loans. It's designed for people who have never had access to capital.
Home repair and energy efficiency loans are for homeowners who want to upgrade or renovate to increase equity and comfort in their home. Property tax assistance loans are to help homeowners cover increasing property taxes in neighborhoods that are becoming gentrified. The loan can help avoid a tax lien and high fees. And there are also several small business loans available.
Latonia Bland, who secured a loan to buy a generator for her ice cream truck called BrainFreeze: Cones for a Cause, is using the ice cream truck to help her fund her dream of building a math academy in her neighborhood.
"My goal is to do my part to help our students raise their test scores," Bland said.
The program hasn’t been around for long, and it’s already expanding. It also offers loans to immigrants and refugees to pay for them to be re-certified in the profession they practiced before they moved to the United States, like a doctor, nurse or lawyer.
“The other really cool product we have is the Small Developer Product,” said Amy Shir, president and CEO of LHome. “So that people for example in West Louisville, they need up to $30,000 to rehab a vacant or abandoned property in their neighborhood, we'll get them the loan. They can rehab the property and create affordable housing for their neighbors.”
Click here for more information about LHome.
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