MAF's mission is to expand access to financial services, savings and investment opportunities for residents of the Mission District to build a more secure economic future for themselves, their families and their community.
The Mission Asset Fund: Investing in the American Dream
On June 11, we celebrated the inauguration of the Mission Asset Fund with tasty food and lively music. It was a great event that brought community leaders, Mission residents, financial industry representatives, and public officials, all interested in moving a community asset building agenda forward. And on this day, we showed a wonderful video telling the story of why the Mission Asset Fund was created - click on the YouTube video and see for yourself.
MAF helps to form a worker-owner cooperative . . .
Nancy Kaufman is a bi-lingual Latina that operates an event planning business called Balloon Art Productions and Rental. Nancy was operating her business out of her home and decided that she needed to expand her operations. She received small business technical assistance from the Mission Economic Development Agency and attended small business classes at ALAS (Alternativas Para Latinas En Autosuficiencia). It was at ALAS that she met other women interested in starting their own micro-enterprises. Nancy and her new colleagues attended MAF's Orientación Sobre Como Formar Cooperativas. Nancy quickly decided that she was ready to convert her sole proprietor business into a worker owner cooperative and invited her new friends to join her. I assisted the women in creating the organizational and legal structure for for their cooperative. Gabrielle Lessard from the Insight Center for Community Economic Development provided the legal oversight for the development of the operating agreement.
MAF launches innovative Cestas Populares
Social Compact found that 44% of all families in the Mission District have no credit histories. Without credit, Mission families are locked out of the credit market all together, forced to turn to high-cost, predatory lenders for their financial needs.
MAF on ABC 7 On Your Side
In case you missed it, ABC 7 On Your Side aired a great story on the Mission Asset Fund. In just a couple of minutes, the story hit the mark in telling what we do and why.
Local program helps low-income families save
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | 7:43 PM7 On Your Side
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- With the high cost of living in the Bay Area, many people can't seem to get off the financial treadmill. Living paycheck to paycheck for far too many families is the norm. But there is a program in San Francisco's Mission District working to change that.
Help to expand affordable home ownership opportunities!
Part of my work at MAF focuses on the promotion of limited equity cooperative housing in the Mission. I am working in coordination with the San Francisco Community Land Trust to promote cooperatives to low-income tenants in the Mission. The SFCLT is currently forming a limited equity cooperative at 53 Columbus in Chinatown. The project is the only one in the country where the community land trust (CLT) model is being used to prevent the displacement of low-income working class people. In addition, the ground floor of the building will become the new home of the Asian Law Caucus.