HFLA of Northeast Ohio

Planting Seeds, Growing Communities

aka Hebrew Free Loan Association   |   Beachwood, OH   |  https://interestfree.org/

Mission

The mission of HFLA of Northeast Ohio is to provide interest-free loans to address the financial challenges of residents of Northeast Ohio who lack access to traditional lending sources. Vision Empower individuals of Northeast Ohio to become economically self-sufficient and financially secure.

Ruling year info

1942

Executive Director

Ms. Michal Marcus

Assistant Director

Ms. Carrie Miller

Main address

23300 Chagrin Blvd Ste 204

Beachwood, OH 44122 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

34-0281800

NTEE code info

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (T01)

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (L01)

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (S01)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

HFLA of Northeast Ohio helps those with unexpected financial hurdles to help themselves through interest-free lending. HFLA is provides initial dollars to small business owners in order to launch their business. HFLA helps fill shortfalls of funds for pursuing education. Improve our borrower's credit score to move them towards having access to traditional lending sources.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

General Loan Fund

We make interest and fee free loans to people who have run into temporary difficulties.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Education - Undergraduate, vocational and technical training, graduate school. Gap years

Population(s) Served
Adults

Business loans for businesses that don't have access to conventional funds.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Expedited interest-free emergency loans of up to $1500 for those impacted economically during the pandemic

Population(s) Served
Adults

A secured loan for those that are credit invisible to help establish positive credit over the course of a year. Individual must be working with a financial coach to participate in this program.

Population(s) Served

A 0% interest car loan of up to $15,000 pre-approved for those without access to fair interest rates when purchasing a car yet have the ability to repay a loan.

Population(s) Served
Working poor

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Dominion Energy Community Partnership Award 2020

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of loans issued

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults, Seniors, Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Our lending continues to grow and reach more people in Northeast Ohio without access to conventional Funds.

Total dollar amount of loans issued

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Amount lent interest free annually in Northeast Ohio.

Total dollar amount of grants awarded

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

With program growth we have been focusing on working with foundations to meet the growing need in Northeast Ohio.

Percentage of loans written off

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

We take into account up to a 3% default rate on our loans, but the past 6 years have a 1% or lower default rate.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

We believe that interest-free loans enable Northeast Ohioans to overcome financial hurdles, pursue education, and contribute to the economic development of our community. We work for a future where everyone has access to the capital that they need to succeed.

Our goal is to increase our loan fund capacity so we can reach more people that would benefit from this resource.

* To ensure that all Northeast Ohioans are aware of our services.
* To have the capacity to serve all of the demand for our services.
* To be known and trusted by all of the partners who serve our target audiences.

* HFLA is the only interest-free lender supporting all Northeast Ohioans with a need and an ability to repay.
* We help people overcome financial hurdles, pursue education, and contribute to the economic development of our community.
* We help people escape from predatory loans.
* We help people attend college.
* We help people develop news skill to succeed in the workforce.
* We help people purchase and repair cars so that they can get to work.
* We help people get over unexpected financial hurdles, such as a home repair, an unanticipated tax obligation, or falling behind on bills.
* We help business owners start or scale up a business when there is no easy access to other capital.

* HFLA lends when there are no other providers of capital, we are often the difference between success and failure for our clients.
* HFLA loans have over a 97% repayment rate. This means that the money invested in HFLA is recycled for generations.
* HFLA has made thousands of loans in Northeast Ohio since 1904.

We have increased the number and amounts of loans made.
We have started reporting credit for our borrowers.
We served as leaders in Ohio on the Coalition for Payday lending reform, and bi-partisan legislation was passed in 2018 to regulate these predatory lenders.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    We serve people in Northeast Ohio without access to fair financial resources. Our constituents tend to be majority individuals with low to moderate income, POC and female.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,

Financials

HFLA of Northeast Ohio
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

HFLA of Northeast Ohio

Board of directors
as of 06/22/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Eric Kaston

HFLA of Northeast Ohio

Term: 2022 - 2024

Laura Kleinman

Senior Transportation Connection

Dara Weinerman Steinberg

Consultant

Brian Rosenfelt

Comerica Bank

Lorie Gelb

Self-Employed

Jason Powers

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress

Stuart Ostro

Corporate Search

Carol Willen

Retired

Irwin Lowenstein

ReThink Advisors

Christine Weiss

Social Activist

Jonathan Brown

Retired

Eric Kaston

Retired

Marquettes Robinson

Eaton

Duane Johnson

U.S. Bank

Ricardo Leon

Cuyahoga Land Bank

Margaret Eigsti

Sisters of Charity Foundation

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 10/28/2021

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 10/28/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.