Built for the Moment

A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends,

We're proud to share that in 2025, VCLF lent more than fifteen million dollars across Vermont, nearly matching 2024's record year. But we reached that number in a very different environment than the year before. As support that Vermonters and Vermont organizations once relied on from federal and state agencies became less certain, we knew our role mattered more, not less.

We began implementing our new five-year strategic plan this year with that reality in mind, building the tools and equipping our staff to meet the growing need for flexible, patient financing.

That commitment showed up clearly in our Justice Forward Fund, which made up 29% of our 66 loans in 2025, supporting Vermonters who have historically and systematically been denied access to capital.

This allowed borrowers to pursue their dreams, like Obitey Gustave, who increased the inventory of his clothing and apparel brand, Empire Mawulolo, and Elom Essiba, who expanded her business, Le Bon Goût, sharing her West African cuisine with more Vermonters.

Despite a challenging economic and social climate, Vermont's small businesses persevered. More people than ever chose to build their own futures through entrepreneurship rather than wait for someone else to create opportunities for them.

We also financed the community spaces where Vermonters gather, cook, learn, and lean on each other — work that felt especially important at a time when neighbors need each other more than ever. You can find that sense of community at Hardwick's creative hub, The Civic Standard, and at the Pittsford Village Farm, where housing, childcare, a café, and meeting space are all under one roof.

We've all seen or felt the housing affordability crisis in our communities: renters overburdened by high costs, businesses struggling to hire due to a lack of housing, and younger households priced out of buying their first home. VCLF responded by raising significant new social impact capital and investing over $23 million in housing development over the past few years. In 2025 alone, we financed $5.5 million in affordable housing, including affordable homeownership in Shelburne, manufactured housing community infrastructure in Colchester, and small-scale, privately developed rental apartments in Brattleboro.

None of this happens without the people who invest in this work alongside us. I'm grateful to our impact investors for the capital they continue to provide, and to our donors, whose philanthropy makes so much of what we do possible.

In 2025, we reached an all-time high of $4.4 million in impact investments, with more Vermonters than ever stepping up to be part of our work, right when the people we're serving need it most.

Together, we'll keep building a Vermont where everyone has the chance to thrive.

We will keep the faith.

Will Belongia
Executive Director

Our 2025 portfolio