A couple of years ago, Thomas Krausse was driving home listening to CBC radio. The interviewer was talking about the global micro-credit lending program called kiva.org (hyperlink this). Inspired, Thomas wondered why there couldn’t be local version of this concept.
Shortly thereafter, Thomas came across a significant monetary contribution from an aunt. With Irene Graf’s initial resources, the concept of The Dandelion, a community-sourced micro-lending program, began to take shape.
The name Dandelion was chosen because, if it proves to be successful in the Wolfville community, this concept could essentially spread like a weed and be replicated in other communities. That, and it’s actually a uniquely beautiful flower.
In October 2009, Jeremy Novak was brought on board as a coordinator to help further the project. Since this time, we have established a Board of Directors, awarded 4 loans totaling $17000 and created much community awareness.
We look forward to further growth in 2010.
(It should be noted that the Dandelion is set up differently than Kiva.org. Dandelion investors cannot specify which project their contribution will assist and their money is not returned when the loan is paid back. The Board of Directors is in place to make sure all financial decisions are well thought-out.)
