During NDC’s 50th Celebration at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, NY, we made a commitment for our next 50 years to continue bringing opportunity to diverse communities across the country, including the neighborhood surrounding Kings Theatre. In January 2020 we launched the Brooklyn Small Business Loan Fund, which made available $300,000 to neighborhood small businesses. Since launching the loan fund, the COVID-19 pandemic has created even greater need for these businesses in an area hardest hit by the disease.
To address these needs, NDC is one of five lenders that is participating in the NY Forward Loan Fund —and through that program NDC has dedicated $2M worth of loans to Brooklyn’s minority and women owned businesses (NYForward.com). Additionally, NDC has pledged $15,000 in grant dollars to the Flatbush Caton Market Micro Entrepreneur Relief Fund (link to funding page), raising direct cash assistance funds to aid Flatbush Caton Market vendors in the wake of the Covid-19 economic shut-down.
Flatbush Caton Market (FCM) is located at the intersection of Flatbush and Caton Avenues in the heart of a community with a rich Caribbean tradition. Its zip code has also been classified as one of the most impacted areas due to the COVID-19 economic shutdown. FCM was established in 2000 as an open-air market to protect local street vendors from police harassment and provide a permanent operating facility.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the market was forced to close in March, and many of the market’s immigrant-owned businesses have not been able to access traditional loans or federal relief initiatives.
NDC’s $15,000 contribution to the relief fund will be distributed directly to FCM vendors. Direct cash assistance provides an immediate, simple mechanism for reducing the burdens imposed by the global pandemic. NDC is committed to supplementing this direct grant by raising additional funds among its many sponsors and banking partners.
If you would like to support this effort, please visit https://ioby.org/project/flatbush-caton-market-micro-entrepreneur-relief-fund and donate today!
OUR MISSION SINCE 1969
NDC directs capital to support the development and preservation of affordable housing; creates jobs through small business lending; advances livable communities with social infrastructure investment; and builds capacity with hands-on technical assistance to local governments.
ABOUT THE NY FORWARD LOAN FUND
The New York Forward Loan Fund (NYFLF) is an economic recovery loan program aimed at supporting New York State small businesses, nonprofits and small landlords as they reopen after the COVID-19 outbreak. The NYFLF prioritizes MWBE which have not accessed federal Covid-19 relief resources, and targets the state’s small businesses with 20 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (90% of all businesses), nonprofits and impacted small landlords NDC’s Community Impact Loan Fund is participating in the NYFLF, and has prioritized it’s lending efforts towards minority and woman owned small businesses and non-profits in Brooklyn and other hard-hit areas in the State. More information can be found HERE: https://www.connect2capital.com/partners/new-york-forward-loan-fund/