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
Watch our Videos - New!
From the story of how the Foundation for Women got started to documentaries filmed in Liberia by Liberians, the Foundation for Women has a new page with all of our videos. "ONE" takes you into the early days of FFW in India where it all began with a $4 loan. In "I Challenge Life" you'll meet program participants and see how microcredit loans save lives and build communities. "Hope" tells the story of how Liberia survived the terrifying enemy of Ebola, and "Only Love" shares the story of how Liberia has emerged from it's history of civil war and struggle with Ebola to regain stability while still facing the challenges of poverty, limited healthcare and scarce educational resources. Watch our videos.
From the story of how the Foundation for Women got started to documentaries filmed in Liberia by Liberians, the Foundation for Women has a new page with all of our videos. "ONE" takes you into the early days of FFW in India where it all began with a $4 loan. In "I Challenge Life" you'll meet program participants and see how microcredit loans save lives and build communities. "Hope" tells the story of how Liberia survived the terrifying enemy of Ebola, and "Only Love" shares the story of how Liberia has emerged from it's history of civil war and struggle with Ebola to regain stability while still facing the challenges of poverty, limited healthcare and scarce educational resources. Watch our videos.
Goodbye to a dear friend
My treasured Liberian staff person Calvin called at noon today and asked, "Are you sitting down?" My response, "What’s wrong Calvin?" with a deep sense of dread. "Your dear friend Evelyn died today." "NO!" was all I could say…Evelyn and I have been friends for years. She lives alone in a small dirt-floor shack house around the corner from my home in Liberia. She would walk passed my front door daily with her plastic bucket filled with small things she tried to sell to anyone she encountered along the beach, her only source of "small-small" money. I often bought all the small bags of nuts and candies she had in her bucket, carefully counting out the total in Liberian dollars; always the equivalent of just a few US dollars. I would bring the treats to our FFW office and share them with the team, all of whom know of my dear friendship with Evelyn. Read more.
My treasured Liberian staff person Calvin called at noon today and asked, "Are you sitting down?" My response, "What’s wrong Calvin?" with a deep sense of dread. "Your dear friend Evelyn died today." "NO!" was all I could say…Evelyn and I have been friends for years. She lives alone in a small dirt-floor shack house around the corner from my home in Liberia. She would walk passed my front door daily with her plastic bucket filled with small things she tried to sell to anyone she encountered along the beach, her only source of "small-small" money. I often bought all the small bags of nuts and candies she had in her bucket, carefully counting out the total in Liberian dollars; always the equivalent of just a few US dollars. I would bring the treats to our FFW office and share them with the team, all of whom know of my dear friendship with Evelyn. Read more.
Join our FFW Circle of Giving and Get Connected
Dear Friends,
Anyone joining our FFW Circle of Giving will have the option of being connected to family in Liberia, just like our friend, banker and long-time supporter Jennifer:
"Nearly four years ago, Deborah and the Foundation for Women connected me to the father of a family of four daughters in Liberia; one of the most impoverished countries on planet earth. At the time, the family had not eaten in days. I have provided financial support to the family, and every time I have an opportunity, I send a package of “essentials.” When I ask what the family needs, the priorities are internet/phone, toothpaste, soap, diaper cream, and candy for the kids. Imagine!" Read more.
Dear Friends,
Anyone joining our FFW Circle of Giving will have the option of being connected to family in Liberia, just like our friend, banker and long-time supporter Jennifer:
"Nearly four years ago, Deborah and the Foundation for Women connected me to the father of a family of four daughters in Liberia; one of the most impoverished countries on planet earth. At the time, the family had not eaten in days. I have provided financial support to the family, and every time I have an opportunity, I send a package of “essentials.” When I ask what the family needs, the priorities are internet/phone, toothpaste, soap, diaper cream, and candy for the kids. Imagine!" Read more.
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.