While in his last year of college, Jon Berman was looking with concern at the balance in his college fund.
“I was fortunate to grow up in a family that helped me establish that college fund, because at home, we tended to frown on debt,” Jon said. “As a result, I’m pretty squeamish about that kind of financial obligation. However, I needed to finish undergrad, and I was short. So when a friend mentioned Hebrew Free Loan (HFL) as a source for interest-free money for college, and then my grandmother also mentioned HFL, I looked into it.”
Jon went to the HFL website and learned about the agency’s William Davidson Jewish College Loan Program.
“I applied, but I didn’t expect to be helped,” Jon said. “I wasn’t sure if there was a level of ‘Jewish enough’ that I would have to meet in order to get money from a Jewish agency. Also, I was at the end of my undergrad experience, not the beginning, and I didn’t know if that mattered. None of that factored in at all, but still I felt it necessary to package myself to them as a good investment: a person with a good internship, and great post-graduation prospects. HFL just looked at me as a person who had a need, and they worked with me.”
Jon, who majored in physics and math, graduated and went on to become a data scientist, a job that allows him to work with the numbers he enjoys. He also repaid his HFL loan as quickly as he could.
“HFL helped me, and I was grateful for it,” Jon said. “I also learned that it’s the borrower loan payments that return to HFL and combine into fresh loan capital and then allow new loans to be made. It really opened my eyes that my loan payments could help the next person. It’s a group effort – community for the community.”
Hebrew Free Loan provides financial help to Jewish people in the state of Michigan through the lending of money without interest. We help people help themselves in accordance with core Jewish values, respect, compassion and confidentiality.
More than 98 percent of HFL loans are repaid, and many loan recipients become donors, helping to sustain the future work of Hebrew Free Loan and the future of the Jewish community in Michigan.
Thanks to the generous support of The William Davidson Foundation, the William Davidson Jewish College Loan Program provides interest-free loans to Jewish students across Michigan for study at accredited institutions located in Michigan. These loans can be used for full-time study at colleges, universities, and graduate schools that lead to an undergraduate or graduate degree. Monthly payments begin six months after the date of graduation and continue, on a graduated basis increasing over time, for ten years.
Undergraduate students may borrow up to $10,000 and graduate students up to $15,000 per year. Applications for the next loan cycle are due by July 31. For more information and to apply for the Jewish College Loan Program, please visit: https://jewishcollegeloansmi.org/
