SOCIAL TOPICS (Archive): COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INVESTING

Published, November 2000

       by Jason Lazott

       "I had a major drug history and had been in and out of jail because I was willing to do what it took to support my habit,” said Zoe W. “I had no choice but to go to a residential drug treatment program, or Child Protective Services was going to take my daughter. I got out of jail, and two weeks later I went to Malaika House.”

       Malaika House is an inpatient drug treatment center for women and their children that was created by Free At Last, a nonprofit agency founded by the residents of East Palo Alto (California) in response to the epidemic of drugs in their community. While at Malaika House, Zoe W. was reunited with her three-year-old daughter, who joined her in living at the facility. “They taught us to be parents again,” she said. “We went to clean and sober functions and on outings for the kids.” Zoe W. has remained drug-free for 17 months, and after nearly a year in Malaika House has moved into her own apartment with her daughter and 15-year-old son.

       Free At Last has forever altered the bleak future of many East Palo Alto residents. Founded on the principle that substance abuse treatment should be accessible on a neighborhood level, Free At Last strives to improve health, reduce crime, and prevent the spread of AIDS in this impoverished community.

       Established in the midst of Silicon Valley—one of the country’s most economically thriving areas—Free At Last is surrounded immediately by poverty, liquor stores and drug-trafficking. Because of wildly fluctuating property values and the high cost of living all over the region, Free At Last was fearful of becoming “homeless” itself. Even with its limited history, leaders decided it was in the organization’s best interest to purchase Malaika House. Development of Free At Lasts’s first residential treatment facility for women substance abusers was made possible by a $200,000 loan from the Northern California Community Loan Fund (NCCLF).

       Priya Haji, Free at Last’s Executive Director, has stated, “Working with NCCLF was really a strategically important partnership for us. Folks there are helping us develop a credit history, and being able to own the building has made a critical difference to the sustainability of our work.”

       NCCLF provides vital funding to nonprofits that provide low-income housing, economic development, and the restoration of opportunities and services to northern California’s poorest communities. Since its inception in 1987, NCCLF has made 132 loan commitments totaling more than $17 million, and has many repeat borrowers. NCCLF funds have also allowed Free At Last to purchase a second residential treatment facility in East Palo Alto. In fact, since 1993, Free At Last has established four residential substance abuse treatment facilities, outpatient substance abuse treatment programs, and youth education and outreach services.

       Mary A. Rogier, NCCLF president, stated, “We’re happy to use the capital we receive from investors in our Fund to support innovative groups—like Free At Last—that provide such important and effective services to their community.”

       Effectively utilizing below-market loans from NCCLF, Free At Last has made a huge difference for the community of East Palo Alto. Haji concluded, “The idea of hope and the possibility of change have become a real part of the community in a way that didn’t exist before in East Palo Alto. With the assistance of NCCLF we are able to assist the most vulnerable families in the community get an opportunity to change and become part of the changing, successful atmosphere here in Silicon Valley.”

       Jason B. Lazott is the Development Director at the Northern California Community Loan Fund. If you would like more information about NCCLF, phone 415-392-8215, or view their website at www.ncclf.org. To learn more about Free At Last, call 650-462-6999.