On December 11 the Genesis Fund received word that Jane’s Trust of Boston approved a $50,000 grant to further the work of sustaining Maine’s year-round island communities. The funds will allow Genesis to make interest-free loans to housing and other community development organizations to finance projects on any of Maine’s 14 unbridged islands with year-round residents. The funds will also help Genesis continue to provide expert technical assistance to the island organizations as they plan new projects.

“While the locally-raised funds and Islands Challenge Fund grants help island organizations to get affordable housing efforts off the ground, many groups need to borrow additional funds to complete the projects. The new Jane’s Trust grant will allow Genesis to lend some of that additional capital interest-free and that will really make a difference to these small, mostly volunteer-led groups,” said Liza Fleming-Ives, associate director of the Genesis Fund, who works most closely with the island housing organizations.

Susan Hammond, executive director of the Orono-based Four Directions Development Corporation, was honored with the first ever Visionary Leader Award for Outstanding Achievement at the Opportunity Finance Network conference in Washington, D.C. on November 1.

Four Directions Development Corporation (FDDC), founded in 2001 as the first Native-governed community development financial institution in Northern New England, works to improve the social and economic conditions of the tribal members of the four Maine tribes by investing in affordable housing, tribal business ventures and small and medium size businesses.

Four Directions serves members and families of the four Native American Tribes in Maine: the Passamaquoddy Tribe (representing two reservations), the Penobscot Indian Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians. Most tribal members and territories are concentrated in Aroostook, Penobscot, and Washington counties, some of the state’s poorest and most remote places.

While leading Four Directions, Hammond has built a portfolio of $2 million in housing and small business loans and a diverse network of Native and non-Native partners ranging from banks to religious groups like the Quakers.

Hammond was commended by the award committee for her leadership in the wake of the defeat of the gambling initiative in Maine, which was perceived as a blow to the economic future of the Tribes. Out of that failed referendum, the Giving Winds Capital Campaign to fund Four Directions emerged and flourishes today.

Congratulations Susan and Four Directions on this national recognition!

If you give to or invest in the Genesis Fund, you know we put your money to the best possible use to create opportunity for Maine people.

Now, thanks to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, for the first time ever you can use your IRA account to make charitable gifts. If you are at least 70½ years of age at the time of the gift, you can now donate up to $100,000 tax-free directly out of your IRA account. The amount of your contribution will be excluded from your gross income. Only gifts made directly to the charity, not investments, will qualify.

As it stands now, this provision will expire at the end of tax year 2007, so your time to make this maximum-impact gift to the Genesis Fund is limited. Please contact Beth McPherson or your tax professional.