Dropping a (Soup) Line

They say that life is full of missed opportunities. Some friends in Massachusetts are disappointed that they had to let a great one pass them by.

They run an investment company -- but not the usual sort. For seven years they have been receiving money and investing it in such things as housing cooperatives, worker-owned businesses, and community services, including non-profit health clinics, cultural centers, and emergency shelters. They were so busy taking care of business on Monday, October 19, that they didn't get wind of the stock market crash until the late-night news report at 10:30.

They hatched an ingenious scheme. They decided to let Wall Street know that not everyone's investments were affected by the Great Crash of 1987.

The plan was to grab a camping cook stove, a cardboard table, a bushel of apples, and a soup pot and head to Wall Street. It might have been the only soup line that Wall Street has ever seen.

They were to have handed out leaflets along with the soup. Addressed to brokers, one side of the leaflet would have read, "We have been investing our clients' money in community land trusts, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. Through better and worse, our business is still stable and booming. And so we have come to offer our condolences and material aid to our brothers and sisters in your hour of need."

The other side of the leaflet would have said simply, "For employment opportunities, contact the Institute for Community Economics (ICE) and the National Association of Community Development Loan Funds at 151 Montague City Road, Greenfield, MA 01301; (413) 774-7956."

Well, unfortunately, the press of business at hand meant that a car from Greenfield never made the trip to New York City. Another good idea lost to the annals of non-history.

BUT THE POINT IS well-taken. There are some investments to be made that are less vulnerable to economic downturns. As Chuck Matthei of ICE put it, "There's not much farther to fall when you invest in things at the bottom."

No investor has ever lost a penny through an investment with ICE or the 30-member National Association of Community Development Loan Funds. As worker-owned businesses and housing co-ops generate their own revenue, and as service organizations establish a track record and begin to receive donations and grants, the loans are being repaid. In the meantime, people who generally have no access to the kind of money it takes to get a project established are being empowered and making a difference in their communities.

The loan funds accept money from individuals and institutions on terms set by the lender. In seven years ICE has received money from almost 300 investors in 35 states. It has placed approximately $7.5 million in loans to 165 community development projects in 25 states, with excellent results.

Among the fortunate recipients of help from ICE were some tenants of a building in our low-income Washington, DC neighborhood. Their tenants association is part of the broader Southern Columbia Heights Tenants Union, which Sojourners Community helped to establish in the neighborhood. With ICE's help, the tenants were able to purchase their building.

Chuck says of the work, "The bad news is that the need for such projects keeps getting worse. The good news is that we are creating accessible and successful vehicles for investment that are making a change."

Requests for funds are far in excess of the funds available. If you think you may have missed out on an opportunity to spare a dime and put some money where it might make a difference, you might want to drop the people at ICE a line. Or speak to them some day if you see them serving soup.

Joyce Hollyday was associate editor of Sojourners when this article appeared.