Hebrew Free Loan Association has developed three new programs to assist Jewish residents through various life passages, with loans to pay back college debts as well as for medical emergencies and simchas.
“We’ve never had categories like this before,” said Irwin Wiener, HFLA’s executive director, in announcing the programs last week. “I am always looking for ways to respond to the needs of the Jewish community. We have to keep in tune with changing needs and enable people to maintain their dignity.”
The maximum amount for the student-loan payback is $25,000. Medical emergencies not covered by insurance may not exceed $10,000. And for Jewish celebrations, the total pot is $5,000.
The programs are new, but one — the emergency medical fund — was established after the HFLA twice earlier helped purchase specially designed vans for paraplegic and quadriplegic individuals.
One of them was to Robert Ross, 25, of Santa Maria, who was critically injured in a swimming accident in his senior year of high school. Now a directing intern at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, he has been driving the van and will continue to do so in the fall when he enters Oberlin College. The cost was borne equally by HFLA and Oakland’s Temple Sinai, where Ross’ family belongs.
“He is self-sufficient to the extent he can be,” Wiener said.
Although HFLA had expanded its programs to serve changing needs, until recently, the board felt one critical need was unmet. Members were “convinced we [were] there for everybody for everything except celebrations of joy, whether a baby-naming, a wedding, a bar or bat mitzvah,” he said. Hence, the simcha loan.
“That does not mean if a person is planning a party for $30,000 and only has $25,000, they should apply for this grant,” he said. “This is for people who otherwise can’t have any kind of celebration.”
Currently, the HFLA has $4 million allocated in loans. Times have changed since it dispensed $10 loans to applicants who repaid the required $1 a month.
More than 100 years ago, Jews who settled here developed the agency to enable immigrants without resources to build new lives. Founding members created a loan fund of $50 from personal pledges of 25 cents a month.
The organization, which has offices in San Francisco, the East Bay, South Bay and Sacramento, now also serves American-born Jews. Loans are available for first-time home purchases, college tuition, business start-ups and personal emergencies. Other interest-free loans include debt consolidation, help with the costs of adopting a child and institutional loans to religious or educational organizations.
Responding to social changes, HFLA has begun offering grants for child care.
“I went to every agency I could and asked what their needs were, where they would put money if they had it. Every one told me they would put money into day care, afterschool child care and day camp for single parents or families with two working parents,” Wiener said. “We know there are a lot of families out there who need this kind of help.”
As with many of the HFLA’s other programs, many of those who could benefit are not aware of the new loans.
“Believe me, I could sit down and talk for hours about the things we have going that nobody is aware of,” Wiener said.
Said Mary Trieste, Ross’ mother, “The HFLA gives more than hope, it gives real independence.”