Eliminating Poverty Through Microcredit
The Foundation for Women is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit and registered non-government organization working to end poverty through microcredit programs.
MicrofinanceFor over 20 years, the Foundation for Women (FFW) has lifted families out of poverty through microcredit globally. Modeled on the Grameen-style micro-lending concept, FFW spearheaded the launch of microfinance in Liberia, bringing a new level of economic empowerment and independence to over 35,000 women since the program’s inception in 2006.
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EducationFFW works in partnership with Edify to provide loans to schools in Liberia. Since 2013, the program has helped over 600 schools and is growing steadily as a model of improving the quality of education. In the program’s first 5 years, we provided over $275,000 in loan capital to partner schools, reaching over 18,000 students with an improved educational experience.
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HealthcareLiberia’s healthcare system has been ravaged by decades of war and economic fragility. In a country of almost 5 million people, with over 80% living below the poverty line, very few have access to health services. Responding to the urgent need, FFW launched a 3-pronged initiative in 2018 in an effort to build capacity in the private sector, where over 70% of Liberians seek care.
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News
Rotary Action Group for Microfinance Endorses FFW's Liberian Food Security Campaign
8/5/20 - Foundation for Women was recently endorsed by the Rotary Action Group for Microfinance and Community Development and featured in their online member communications. Here is the full article: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect every corner of the global economy, the impact of the virus on weak health systems and economies is only beginning to be foreshadowed. Countries with comparatively strong health systems have been catastrophically challenged by the pandemic, and as the virus spreads to poor countries, concern about the looming health crisis grows. In Liberia, where over 3 million people live below the poverty line, 97% of households do not have clean water or soap and access to personal protective measures and behaviors (such as masks, cleaning supplies, and social distancing) is almost impossible. The country sinks deeper into a compounding cycle of poverty and ill-health with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. The healthcare system is woefully ill-prepared to manage a spike in critical cases. The country only has 6 ventilators. Read more.
8/5/20 - Foundation for Women was recently endorsed by the Rotary Action Group for Microfinance and Community Development and featured in their online member communications. Here is the full article: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect every corner of the global economy, the impact of the virus on weak health systems and economies is only beginning to be foreshadowed. Countries with comparatively strong health systems have been catastrophically challenged by the pandemic, and as the virus spreads to poor countries, concern about the looming health crisis grows. In Liberia, where over 3 million people live below the poverty line, 97% of households do not have clean water or soap and access to personal protective measures and behaviors (such as masks, cleaning supplies, and social distancing) is almost impossible. The country sinks deeper into a compounding cycle of poverty and ill-health with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. The healthcare system is woefully ill-prepared to manage a spike in critical cases. The country only has 6 ventilators. Read more.
Deborah Featured in the San Diego Union Tribune "Phenomenal San Diego women in advocacy and empowerment"
6/27/20 - Deborah was part of a wonderful article in the San Diego Union Tribune about phenomenal San Diego women in advocacy and empowerment. “If you empower a man, you empower one person,” Deborah Lindholm once told the Union-Tribune. “If you empower a woman, you empower her entire family.”
That’s the formula behind microfinance — small loans to fledgling female entrepreneurs — that Lindholm and the nonprofit Foundation for Women have been using since 1997 to ease poverty in San Diego, India and now Liberia. She was drawn to the work after seeing how a $4 loan in India — used to buy a comb, a pair of scissors and a mirror and start a barber business — helped a woman buy a home and send her children to school. The program, started in Lindholm’s Coronado living room and patterned after the work of Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has helped more than 1 million women so far. Read the full article online: sandiegouniontribune.com.
6/27/20 - Deborah was part of a wonderful article in the San Diego Union Tribune about phenomenal San Diego women in advocacy and empowerment. “If you empower a man, you empower one person,” Deborah Lindholm once told the Union-Tribune. “If you empower a woman, you empower her entire family.”
That’s the formula behind microfinance — small loans to fledgling female entrepreneurs — that Lindholm and the nonprofit Foundation for Women have been using since 1997 to ease poverty in San Diego, India and now Liberia. She was drawn to the work after seeing how a $4 loan in India — used to buy a comb, a pair of scissors and a mirror and start a barber business — helped a woman buy a home and send her children to school. The program, started in Lindholm’s Coronado living room and patterned after the work of Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has helped more than 1 million women so far. Read the full article online: sandiegouniontribune.com.
Help Us Celebrate 22 Years!
Thursday, April 23, 2020 San Diego, CA - Today is a very special day. Twenty-two years ago today, the Foundation for Women offered its first public program. Hundreds of women came to that first event. Over the years thousands of women and several special men have joined with us in support of poverty eradication and social justice. We can truly say that we have positively impacted more than 25 million people living in dire poverty - and we are just getting started. Read more.
Thursday, April 23, 2020 San Diego, CA - Today is a very special day. Twenty-two years ago today, the Foundation for Women offered its first public program. Hundreds of women came to that first event. Over the years thousands of women and several special men have joined with us in support of poverty eradication and social justice. We can truly say that we have positively impacted more than 25 million people living in dire poverty - and we are just getting started. Read more.