In response to new and improved crib safety standards instituted last year by the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission, the Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF) has announced a new loan program to help child care programs pay for purchases of new, safety compliant cribs. All cribs purchased before June 28, 2011, must be replaced with new cribs which meet the new safety regulations. The new loan program, known as CRIBS, for Capital Resources for Infant Bed Safety, will provide loans for crib purchases to qualified Vermont child care programs. Click here for a CRIBS loan application.

VCLF Executive Director Will Belongia, commented on the CRIBS loan program, explaining “Infant cribs represent a significant expense to child care providers, typically costing between three and twelve hundred dollars. The new CRIBS loan program will ensure that our state’s child care programs are able to act quickly to comply with the new crib safety regulations, without any interruptions in their service to the Vermont families that rely on them.”

VCLF Child Care Programs Director Hope Campbell said “All cribs purchased prior to the June, 2011 date must be replaced by December 28, 2012. They can’t be retrofitted, so child care providers will have to respond quickly to remain in compliance. That’s why VCLF felt that the CRIBS loan program was essential to introduce.” VCLF has been working with Vermont child care providers for over a decade, providing access to loan capital, grant support and business-related technical assistance.

For more information, contact Maria at VCLF at 802-224-9141 or maria@vclf.org

Grant Will Help Loan Fund Spur Job Creation and Economic Growth Across Vermont

September 7, 2012
Montpelier, VT
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has announced that the Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF) has been awarded a grant of $671,416 to support its mission-driven lending to Vermont’s small businesses, community facilities and affordable housing and child care programs. The Loan Fund is one of 210 organizations nationwide to be awarded in this competitive grants round, and one of only two awardees in Vermont.

Will Belongia, VCLF executive director, commented on the award announcement, saying “VCLF is honored to be among this year’s CDFI grantees. Not only is it a show of support for our twenty-five year track record of successful community and economic development, it’s a vote of confidence for the impacts the Loan Fund is making in the lives of lower-income Vermonters today. Support at this level from the U.S. Department of the Treasury enables us to keep moving forward, creating stronger, healthier communities with more opportunities than ever before.”

A mission-driven alternative lender since 1987, the Vermont Community Loan Fund has provided almost $75 million in financing to organizations and entrepreneurs that have created or preserved 4,000 jobs, 3,000 affordable homes and child care for 3,000 Vermont children and families. VCLF also manages a number of technical assistance and smalls grants programs serving lower-income Vermonters.