Vermont Lutheran Church in Black Earth has become a “Partner With Purpose” for a microfinance program in Iliolo City in the Philippines.
The church has committed funding for loans to help sustain small businesses that borrow from the Urban People’s Development Cooperative, a credit union in the Philippines.
The partnership is an initiative of WorldWise Microfinance, a Madison nonprofit that connects small businesses, usually owned by women, from other countries together with institutions in the U.S.
“We created Partnering With Purpose to allow just this kind of connection between local groups and our borrowers across the globe,” WorldWise president Tom Eggert said in a statement.
Vermont Lutheran Church will receive a steady stream of information about UPDC borrowers.
“This will make it possible for our congregation to engage with entrepreneurs and their families, in a way that hasn’t been possible before,” Paul Ohlrogge, a member of the mission team and a long-time board member of WorldWise Microfinance, said in a statement.
UPDC members use loan funds to strengthen small businesses like food service, farming, sewing and other cottage industries.
The new Partnership With Purpose funding will allow the program to double the size of the existing program.
