Invitation to Build Local Solidarity Economy in DC
Join cooperatives on November 9th from around DC to build a local solidarity economy
Join cooperatives from around DC to build a local solidarity economy
Baldwin House wants to share an opportunity from one of our community collaborators- Beloved Community Incubator. BCI is a worker self-directed nonprofit that provides sliding-scale support for worker-owned cooperatives, collective projects, business owners, and freelancers in the Washington, DC metro region.
The DC Solidarity Economy Loan Fund (DC SELF) is a key part of Beloved Community Incubator’s work of building a local solidarity economy led by poor and working class workers of color. BCI is publicly launching the loan fund on Thursday, November 9th & would love to see you there!
You can register for this event by signing up on the eventbrite.
What is the Solidarity Economy?
Solidarity economies create frameworks for democratic ownership and community control of the systems that produce and distribute the goods and services that humans require in order to live with dignity. Building blocks of a solidarity economy include: cooperative businesses owned by workers or the community, limited equity housing co-ops, community land trusts, credit unions, public banks, and other institutions through which we can collectively own and control land, money and our labor.
Non-extractive Financing Builds the Solidarity Economy
Most traditional lenders don’t want to lend to cooperatives, and co-ops and other businesses led by people of color often aren’t able to access traditional financing because they don’t have the personal wealth or assets to guarantee a loan.
Non-extractive loan funds provide sustainable lending, meaning that borrowers don’t make repayments until they’re able to cover operating costs, including a living wage; loans do not require personal guarantees like personal assets; and instead of credit scores, alternative, relationship-based metrics determine loan-readiness.
DC SELF provides non-extractive loans to cooperatives led by worker-owners from communities who have been historically marginalized and/or who are “unlikely borrowers” from traditional capitalist lenders – meaning that they have experienced the brunt of our extractive capitalist economy.
$1 million in Non-extractive Loans by 2025
DC SELF launched in late 2022 and has already invested $200,000 in solidarity economy loans to two local cooperatives: Dulce Hogar and Throneless Tech. Our goal is to provide $1 million in non-extractive lending within the next two years.
Join us on zoom November 9th at 6pm EST to learn more about the DC solidarity economy and imagine together what’s possible when we invest in collectively owned and community-controlled resources.
We hope to see you there!
In solidarity,
Baldwin House Community Collective