By Sister Marilín Llanes, OP
Director and Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Advisory Board Office

Founded in 2005, Windmill Microlending opened its doors to skilled immigrants and refugees who land in Canada to rebuild their lives. The organization is committed to crafting the needed financial products and equipping clients, who don’t have established credit ratings or collateral, with the resources that promote economic mobility and equity.

The Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) members on June 7, 2024, unanimously approved a loan to Windmill. 

Dr. Maria Eriksen, a Calgary-based clinical psychologist, was disheartened to learn custodial staff at the hospital where she worked were internationally trained professionals. Their credentials were not recognized and they could not practice their professions due to an array of obstacles ranging from language barriers, high licensing costs, and a limited understanding of the Canadian system. When Dr. Eriksen learned about the challenges these skilled immigrants faced, she took action steps that consequently changed the lives of thousands of new settlers across Canada.  

Windmill offers financial support with affordable, low-interest loans of up to $15,000 to pay for accreditation, training, and career development. Its mission-driven way is well aligned with the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Enactment that beckons us to “building the beloved community in which everyone is cared for, absent of poverty, hunger and hate.” 

Binal, a dentist from Mississauga, Ontario, calls her Windmill Microlending Career Success Coach, Robert, “an angel in my life,” who helped her and her family at a time when they were truly in need.

She says the Windmill loan application process was simple and responsive. Robert was there to answer questions and provide financial and career advice through the entire process, which she completed from home. 

“My Windmill loan really changed my life. I was preparing for my final exam to get my credential to become a dentist,” she said. “We were in a dire financial situation and Robert shared with me the good news.” 

Binal was on maternity leave at the time and was struggling to pay for her professional accreditation exams and no financial institution would extend her the funds needed to complete the licensing process. She had been referred to Windmill Microlending by one of her dental instructors, so Binal applied for a loan and was approved within five business days. 

Binal’s Windmill loan helped her pay for childcare while she studied as well as her exam fees. It also meant she wouldn’t need to return to long shifts at a sandwich shop. With the financial pressure relieved, Binal completed her exams and is now back working in her chosen profession, bringing smiles to her patients. 

She says her early years in a new country proved challenging but with Robert and Windmill’s support, her future is bright and her potential is unlimited.
The Windmill microlending invests in financial resilience for transformative impact in the lives of skilled immigrants and refugees across Canada.

Watch a video of Binal describing her experience with Windmill.
 

Reprinted with the permission of the Latino Community Credit Union

Vicky Garcia, Senior Vice President of Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU) – a community investment of the Adrian Dominican Sisters – participated in a late January 2023, moderated conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris and Isabella Guzman, U.S. Small Business Administrator. The conversation was introduced by Marla Bilonick, President and CEO of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) and moderated by Jorge Buzos of Univision.

Marla framed the conversation perfectly, explaining the important relationship between small, Latino-owned businesses and the community lenders that are “entrenched in the communities they serve … and fill an important gap by providing loans and financial services that traditional banks are sometimes not able or willing to provide.” She concluded by celebrating LCCU as a “superstar in the community lending field.”

Vice President Harris said community lenders like LCCU “understand the capacity of the community. They understand the culture of the community, the mores of the community, what the community wants for itself.” These words beautifully describe LCCU, which has established a national model for financial inclusion and has provided $1.6 billion in loans to Latinos traditionally marginalized from economic opportunity.

“Vice President Harris is a proven champion of community lenders, including credit unions like LCCU,” Vicky said. “By taking the time to come here and meet our members face to face, the Vice President is recognizing their important contribution to the U.S. economy and LCCU’s role as a driver of economic opportunity and growth.”

Vice President Harris met several LCCU members who have used LCCU loans to start and grow their businesses, buy homes, and build generational wealth. Additionally, she and Administrator Guzman visited a local bakery owned by LCCU members.

Vice President Kamala Harris visits a bakery owned by members of the Latino Community Credit Union. (Photo courtesy of the Latino Community Credit Union)
 

The vice president was also on hand to celebrate the federal government’s investment in community lenders like LCCU. As part of the U.S. Treasury Department $9 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP), LCCU received a $99 million, 30-year, low-interest loan from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The federal investment provides LCCU the equity to build its capital base dramatically and quickly expand its impactful, public-private partnership model. LCCU is now positioned to raise significantly more deposits from mission-aligned private sector partners – corporations, foundations, and health systems – and immediately deploy those deposits as life-changing loans to those who need them the most.

Over the 30-year term, LCCU expects to raise $700 million in private sector deposits, which in combination with member deposits, will allow for the union to make one million fair and affordable loans, for a total of $30 billion in financing, to its growing membership of Latinos in the Southeast. 

Vice President Harris concluded by underscoring that LCCU’s “one million loans will have a profound exponential impact on the economic health and wellbeing of the community.”

Watch a video of the event below or on YouTube.