June 4, 2008

VALLEY FORGE, PA – National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA has partnered with five faith-based organizations to launch The Isaiah Funds, believed to be the first interfaith fund for long-term domestic disaster recovery.

The funds-a Redevelopment Loan Fund and an Access to Capital Grants Fund-will initially focus on recovery in low income Gulf Coast communities by helping affordable housing projects close financing gaps, helping small businesses get back on their feet, and supporting the development of community centers. Founders hope the funds become a springboard from which other funds are developed to support recovery following future disasters.

A collaboration of Jewish, Catholic and Mennonite as well as Baptist organizations, The Isaiah Funds grew out of the work of the Katrina Investment Response Team at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in New York, N.Y. As a founding member of The Isaiah Funds, National Ministries continues its long history of leveraging its financial investments to help address social justice concerns.

National Ministries' Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Michaele Birdsall, CPA, who is spearheading the American Baptist home mission organization's participation in this effort, encourages American Baptist partners to consider investing in The Isaiah Funds.

The funds' goal is to build up the program to $10 million for loans and $1 million for grants with the help of foundations and faith-based institutions by the end of 2009. Already $4.5 million has been raised toward that goal.

"People of faith are called to play a unique and critical role in addressing the chronic needs of our society," Birdsall says. "More than two years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I am still struck by the level of devastation that continues in New Orleans. Not only the devastation of buildings and infrastructure, but also the devastation of lives, families and communities. Participation in The Isaiah Funds is part of National Ministries' continued commitment to use every available resource to support the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort."

Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, which has finished about 600 units of affordable housing since the storm and is working on an additional 500 units, will receive the first loan of $500,000.

The funds' name hails from the words of the Old Testament prophet: "You will restore the age-old foundations and be called repairer of the breach, restorer of the streets in which to dwell" (Isaiah 58:12).

National Ministries' partners in The Isaiah Funds include: CHRISTUS Health, a Catholic faith-based, not-for-profit health system; Highland Good Steward Management, a provider of investment advice to not-for-profit institutional investors; Jesuits of the New Orleans Province, a Jesuit order that serves the people of God in the southern and southwestern United States; Jewish Funds for Justice, a national public foundation; and MMA Community Development Investments, a Mennonite-related community investment program.

For information about investing in The Isaiah Funds, contact Michaele Birdsall at 610-768-2368 or mbirdsall@abc-usa.org.

American Baptist Churches USA