Loans

Eligibility | Products Available  |  Background
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Eligibility:

We lend to child care programs of all types, including school-age programs as well as infant, toddler, and pre-school child care.  We work with providers throughout the state of Massachusetts.  To be eligible to borrow from the FUND, providers must:

• Be non-profit;
• Be licensed by Department of EEC, or be in the process of securing a license;
• Serve low-income children

Products Available:

We can provide:

• Loans of up to $350,000 per project ($500,000 per borrower) on flexible terms, typically at 7.5%, over a 10-year term.  We will consider, under certain circumstances, loans that exceed these numbers or that amortize over a longer period than 10 years. We charge a 1% commitment fee due at closing. 

• Technical assistance with project planning and development: We can help you to plan your project and deal with obstacles you may be facing, like how to find a building or a good architect, or how to access other resources to fill budget gaps.

• Pre-development loans at 0% for third-party feasibility assistance (limited availability).  We may be able to help you pay for early planning costs, like hiring an architect to do some initial feasibility studies and conceptual design work. These loans of $5-10,000 require no payment of interest, and can be forgiven if the project fails to proceed.

We take loan applications continuously, and prefer to talk to providers early in the planning process. Call us if you have a project in mind you'd like to discuss.

Background:

Over its 16-year history, the FUND has lent over $6.5 million to over 70 borrowers, improving or creating more than 6,000 child care slots, 71% of which serve low-income children.  We serve the whole state of Massachusetts, and have raised our maximum loan levels. 

The FUND's funders include:

• Boston Private Bank and Trust
• Citizens Bank
• Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
• First Parish Church in Lincoln
• Harvard University
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
• MetLife Foundation
• Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation
• Massachusetts Life Insurance Community Initiative
• State Street Bank
• Wainwright Bank
• Anonymous