Harrington partnered with nonprofit Calvert Foundation, which offers an investment vehicle called the Community Investment Note, to fund underserved borrowers, mainly minorities and women in low-income communities.
The first investment issued under the CCI program has already raised $2,000,000 from Harrington clients. The funds will be loaned to the Low Income Investment Fund (www.liifund.org) and the Rural Communities Assistance Corporation (www.rcac.org). These organizations work directly with low-income families in need of affordable housing, childcare services, job training and small business support.
The long term goal of Harrington’s work with Calvert Foundation is to increase the overall allocation of invested assets into affordable housing, microfinance, health care, education and other programs critical to community development in California and around the world. Harrington’s hope is that CCI encourages other investment advisors, broker dealers and financial planners to participate in future Note offerings from Calvert Foundation.
"It is our contention that putting more assets into community investing is one of the best ways to shift the focus of economic development away from short-term profits to long-term sustainability," said John Harrington, President of HII. "These investments create greater social equity by empowering poor people with the opportunity to rise out of poverty."
Art Stevens, who works with both financial advisors and investors at Calvert Foundation, said: "We admire Harrington’s commitment to helping their clients integrate values and conscience into their portfolios, making investment another expression of their underlying commitment to service. This is a time when our commitment to service may be tested, but I haven’t been hearing that from firms like Harrington and our other Community Investment Note investors. Instead I am hearing that these challenging times validate our core values, and overwhelmingly, our clients are renewing their investments and committing more to help underserved communities."
The CCI program is consistent with the goals of the Obama administration’s efforts to expand community investment opportunities. The administration recently doubled funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions fund, which will expand job-creating investments and access to credit in disadvantaged communities throughout the U.S.
About Harrington Investments, Inc
Harrington Investments, Inc (HII) is a Napa based registered investment advisor and has been a leader in socially responsible investing and shareholder advocacy for over 25 years. John Harrington, president of HII, has been in the SRI field for over 37 years, founding Working assets Money Fund, Progressive Asset Management, Waterhealth International, Global Partners LLC, Community Commercial Ventures, LLC and several other socially and environmentally-oriented companies. More information is available at http://www.harringtoninvestments.com.
CONTACT: Forrest Hill, (800) 788-0154 or forrest@HarringtonInvestments.com.
About Calvert Foundation
For over 12 years, Calvert Social Investment Foundation (Calvert Foundation), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, has been working to make community investment a safe and logical option for all investors seeking to make a positive social impact. To make community investment accessible to a wider audience, Calvert Foundation has removed critical barriers by creating investment products that blend both financial and social returns. With more than $200 million in assets, Calvert Foundation focuses on using investment capital, rather than conventional philanthropy, to create a sustainable, scalable model that enables nonprofit organizations, microfinance institutions and social enterprises to address critical social problems. More information is available on http://www.calvertfoundation.org.
CONTACT: Carrie McGarry, (301) 280-1383 or carrie.mcgarry@calvertfoundation.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Calvert Foundation is a separate entity from Calvert Group Ltd. and its products should not be confused with any Calvert Group-sponsored investment product. In order to avoid confusion and be consistent when referring to Calvert Foundation in print news stories, always use "Calvert Foundation" as opposed to "Calvert" in headlines and subheads.