Four Directions receives grant from church group

Nearly $300,000 has been donated or lent to the Four Directions Development Corp. through the Giving Winds Capital Campaign that the corporation is undertaking in conjunction with the Maine Council of Churches.

Four Directions is a nonprofit community development financial institution that assists members of Maine’s four American Indian tribes to obtain low-interest loans for home purchases, remodeling and renovation, and for small-business endeavors.

Working with the four Maine tribes, the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians, the Houlton Band of Maliseets, the Passamaquoddy Tribes of Indian Township and Pleasant Point and the Penobscot Nation, Four Directions so far has made nearly 50 loans totaling about $1.7 million with no defaults.

The board of the Northeast District Unitarian Universalist Association recently voted to lend $10,000 to the corporation. The loan will be matched by the Unitarian Universalist Association and, in turn, will be matched at the federal level for a total of $40,000.

The money is to be paid back in five years at a 2 percent interest rate, Helen Scalia, campaign manager for Giving Winds, said Thursday.

“The context for this loan is that Four Directions is in the process of trying to raise $1 million in partnership with the Maine Council of Churches to make loans in Indian country here in Maine,” Scalia said.

The Giving Winds Capital Campaign is about one year old and is a joint project between the Maine Council of Churches and Four Directions. The campaign was initiated by the council in 2003 when it came out publicly against the casino.

“But the [Maine Council of Churches] board of directors felt strongly that they needed to find some alternative way of supporting economic development for Native Americans in Maine,” Scalia said.

A variety of denominations, including the United Church of Christ, the Quakers, and Episcopal churches, have donated or provided loans to Four Directions through the campaign.