After a quarter-century of providing innovative financing to non-profits all over Maine, Brunswick-based Genesis Fund recently hosted a 25th Anniversary Luncheon to recognize members of the Lincoln County community who were essential to its formation and growth. Former Board members, the founding Executive Director and key investors were among the attendees at the gathering on July 20 at Main Street eatery, Damariscotta River Grill. “Lincoln County is where it all started for us,” says Liza Fleming-Ives, The Genesis Fund’s deputy director. “We wanted to celebrate The Genesis Fund’s many achievements with those who were there at the beginning.”

The Genesis Community Loan Fund was founded by faith-based organizations in Lincoln County in 1992, as a revolving loan fund to address the need for safe, decent, affordable housing. The Genesis Fund wrote its first two loans in 1992, financing affordable housing in Bremen and Wiscasset that are still in existence today. From its original offices in Damariscotta, Genesis began financing loans for other vital community projects, including health and child centers, facilities for people with disabilities, and affordable housing.

Twenty-five years later, the Genesis Fund has loaned over $37 million, funding more than 226 community projects across Maine. The Genesis Fund moved to Brunswick in 2015, but still maintains strong ties to its Lincoln County roots. Damariscotta’s Beth McPherson, The Genesis Fund’s founding executive director, notes that although The Genesis Fund has grown in scope and reach, it has remained true to its original mission. “From the beginning I had beliefs and hopes …I hoped The Genesis Fund would recruit and lend capital around values of social justice. I believed we would work in markets that other nonprofit developers overlooked or shied away from … I am more than thrilled. In its 25 years, The Genesis Fund has amply proven those beliefs, and it has fully realized those hopes!”

The Genesis Fund is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing financing by soliciting investment loans from individuals, churches, corporations, and foundations, and then re-lending funds to nonprofit organizations developing facilities for underserved Maine communities. The Genesis Fund also provides technical assistance to nonprofits by helping them access state, federal and private funding to support their work.