Local church helps fund micro-loan program

For the last eight years, the Niwot United Methodist Church has been participating in a unique method of outreach - micro loans.

The loans go through a nonprofit company called Kiva, formed in 2005, which operates through a network of donors/lenders who help individuals and groups with specific needs.

Dennis Knowlden, along with his wife Minetta, are co-chairs of the church's outreach committee.

Knowlden said that the church just surpassed giving over $12,000 to various people over the course of the project.

"Over the years we've been happy to do this," Knowlden said. "It's been fun to look at the stories of these people, get involved and know that you're helping that individual with needs that they wouldn't be able to get help with otherwise. They can't go down to Wells Fargo."

On Kiva's website, people can donate as little as $25 or as much as they want. Donors have the ability to read why the funds are needed and what they'll be used for.

Knowlden said that the church has given to help bring toilets to a village, help with education expenses or to help small businesses, including a pharmacy. About two-thirds of the donations went to women or women's organizations that were in need.

"It's a lot of the things that we take for granted," Knowlden said. "They're helping themselves and their communities and this gives them an opportunity."

"What Kiva does is when money is donated, when the person pays it back it's put into our Kiva account. What we do is re-lend that out. We take all the money that's repaid and give it back to someone else."

Kiva deals with 250 different organizations in 66 different countries with over two million donor/lenders. They give the loans at low interest rates, and the interest is used for Kiva's operation costs, which are also funded with grants.

People who receive loans pay them back at a very high rate, Knowlden said.

"When you go in for a loan, there's always a risk the lender takes," Knowlden said. "We've gotten about 96 percent repayment. I worked in credit unions and banks for a long time, and that to me is an astounding number. These people literally don't have anything and they're able to repay their loans."

Aside from finances, Kiva also helps with training for those looking to start a business.

"There are a lot of things that go on besides lending," Knowlden said. "They try to help people in all facets of their lives. Say a person wants to start raising chickens, they'll help them start the business itself or work with literacy."

The outreach committee gives regular updates to the church's congregation about where their donations went and what they were used for.

In the midst of a pandemic, these small donations can mean a lot to someone in an impoverished country, which makes hearing their stories more important for the members of the church.

"They're happy to hear that the money they donate is going to help other people," Knowlden said. "There's people all around the world that are affected. We think of the problems we're having, but every country's businesses are affected, just as much as ours are here.

"It's rewarding and it's fun. Hopefully we're part of something larger. It seems like when we're doing this we're not thinking of the big picture. We're just a little Niwot church doing what we can."