In partnership with five other institutions, MMA Community Development Investments recently helped launch The Isaiah Funds, an interfaith effort to rebuild communities following natural disasters. The funds will provide low-cost capital to disadvantaged communities who are especially hard hit, with an initial focus on hurricane recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast.

Economic redevelopment is a vital, and often overlooked, second stage to disaster recovery. MMA Community Development Investments (MMA CDI) plans to invest up to $500,000 in the funds by 2009. Approximately 85% (over $10 million) of MMA CDI assets come from the MMA Praxis Mutual Funds as part of the Fund’s commitment to community development investing.

Other partners in The Isaiah Funds include: American Baptist Home Mission Society, CHRISTUS Health, Highland Good Steward Management, Jesuits New Orleans Province, and Jewish Funds for Justice.

Though much of the Gulf Coast has regained the appearance of normalcy, some of the hardest rebuilding work lies ahead. The Isaiah Funds anticipate making more than $10 million in investments in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Region by the end of 2009. Visit isaiahfunds.org to learn more.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 7:41 am and is filed under MMA, Mark. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.