Quebec City Community Loan Fund (CREECQ)
Carrefour de relance de l'economie et de l'emploi du centre de Quèbec
Quebec City, Quebec
CREECQ (Carrefour de relance de l'economie et de l'emploi du centre de Quèbec)
was created by business people, community associations, union organizations and social workers along with Quebec provincial government support in 1993. It was established to provide business services, training and employment services along with other community support services (i.e. social housing, neighbourhood security).
The Quebec City Community Loan Fund grew out of a recognition of the need for accessible capital for the economic development of impoverished downtown neighbourhoods in Quebec City.
The loan fund provides financing, along with the necessary technical support. These loans (up to $20,000) are made to individual and collective ventures that have a positive social and economic impact on the local community.
The Quebec City Community Loan Fund came to CAIC in September of 1997 to request a loan to help increase the size of their investment pool. The board of directors of CAIC was impressed with the social value of the loan and agreed to provide a loan in increments. In other words, as the fund grew and reached targeted levels, CREECQ could access an additional amount up to a maximum of $50,000. CAIC has found that supporting community loan funds allows our members to serve those at the most grassroots level of our communities. Our experience with the Quebec City Community Loan Fund (CREECQ) was unique from other loan funds because of a slight language barrier, which we overcame by employing a translator during the meeting process. Although CAIC is not a bilingual organization, we are willing to take the necessary steps to make ourselves accessible to all. To that end, we have a French brochure and a French information page on our website. Salut!
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