Launching Three New Communities of Opportunity - NC Triangle

The goal of this initiative is to bring together a group of passionate supporters of Opportunity International and their friends from the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Triangle to make a lasting difference for families living in poverty. A total of $1 million raised will provide microfinance services to benefit over 50,000 people in the Congo, Uganda and Colombia over the next 5 years. Each “Community of Hope” will establish a branch office or similar operation in a new geographic area to fund 2,500 new micro-businesses with their initial loans. Each branch team will have 20 staff members, with about half being loan officers. The loan officers will be responsible for establishing 10 Trust Groups of about 25 members each. Many more people will open savings accounts. In this way, the Raleigh-Durham-Cary initiative will invest in a virtuous cycle that is able to accumulate community capital to support local entrepreneurs to grow businesses and create jobs for others. As loans are repaid and recycled and deposits accumulate, the impact will multiply over time.