[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  COALITION FOR A BETTER ACRE HONORED

                                 ______


                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 1994

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to call attention to the fine work 
performed by the Coalition for a Better Acre and Enterprise Bank and 
Trust in the development of my hometown, Lowell, MA. CBA and Enterprise 
are being recognized by the Social Compact in conjunction with the 1993 
Outstanding Community Investment Awards program, which focuses national 
attention on outstanding efforts to strengthen disadvantaged 
neighborhoods.
  The Coalition for a Better Acre [CBA] is Lowell's only community-
based nonprofit development organization. Its Hispanic empowerment and 
leadership project and Southeast Asian organizing project help local 
residents strengthen their communities and revitalize their 
neighborhoods. The Enterprise Development Center focuses on the 
creation and retention of local jobs by supporting the smallest and 
newest business ventures in high-growth sectors of the economy. In the 
field of affordable housing, the CBA has developed nearly 400 
residential units for low- and moderate-income people.
  The Acre community in Lowell is one of New England's most diverse--
and poorest--communities, with nearly 85 percent of its 15,000 
residents living in poverty. With thousands of jobs lost in the Lowell 
area since the beginning of the recession in 1989, home businesses, 
self-employment ventures, and microsized enterprises have exploded in 
number and represent a critical source of income for the urban poor in 
the Acre and provide a realistic alternative to minimum wage jobs and 
welfare.
  With the help of Enterprise Bank and Trust, CBA created the Minority 
Enterprise Development Assistance Initiative [MEDAI] in 1992. MEDAI is 
based on a microenterprise development model created by the Grameen 
Bank in Bangladesh. The program offers $500 working capital loans to 
individuals who form peer groups of up to seven members. To be eligible 
for participation in MEDAI, peer members must be currently living on 
some type of public assistance. As a group, the members review each 
other's business plans and then approve and cosign each other's loans. 
Loans graduate up to $1,500 when members stay current on payments.
  Enterprise played a lead role in capitalizing the experimental MEDAI 
peer loan program by pledging $25,000. In addition, the chief executive 
officer and assistant vice president actively participated in the 
planning and development of the program and continue to offer their 
advice and expertise on a regular basis.
  CBA secured operating funds from the city of Lowell, private 
foundations, and national religious philanthropic organizations, 
including the Theodore Edson Parker Foundation, Sun Microsystems Inc., 
the Marianist Sharing Fund, and the Adrian Dominican Sisters. In 
addition to loan fund capital supplied by Enterprise, loan pool 
resources were committed from five additional banks, the city of 
Lowell, and religious philanthropies. In all, 11 different sources of 
funds were found to begin the MEDAI program.
  This awards program is built upon a national competition which seeks 
out the most innovative and effective affordable housing, community 
and/or economic development strategies carried out by partnerships 
between financial services institutions and neighborhood-based 
nonprofit organizations. With the support of the country's national 
nonprofit housing and community development leadership, almost 2,000 
applications were distributed and 120 applications received. The award-
winning partnerships are representative of each of the types of 
financial services institutions represented in the pool of applicants. 
Each of these nonprofit partners receives a grant averaging $5,000 to 
further their work. The CBA/Enterprise Bank and Trust partnership was 
chosen as one of sixteen honorees in the Outstanding Community 
Investment Awards competition. I think the keen competition for this 
award speaks to the exemplary quality of work by both the coalition and 
Enterprise in helping restore the economic vitality of Lowell.

                          ____________________