Healthy Living, Healthy Financing
Healthy Living, Healthy Financing (HLHF) promotes health and wellness and seeks to eliminate food deserts in low-to-moderate income communities. Through this initiative, GAC provides innovative financial solutions that work to provide the right capital in the right way to local food growers, purchasers or other entities that support the local food ecosystem. Programs under HLHF incentivizes businesses to source food locally grown, enabling them to provide healthier food options in the communities in which they serve.
GAC currently provides local food entrepreneurs with a hybrid loan product of up to $100,000 to help meet short- and long-term business needs through our partnership with Food:Land: Opportunity – Localizing the Chicago Foodshed.
Food:Land: Opportunity - Localizing the Chicago Foodshed is a multi-year initiative that aims to create a resilient local food economy that protects and conserves land and other natural resources while promoting market innovation and building wealth and assets in the Chicago region’s communities. Funded through the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, Food:Land: Opportunity is a collaboration between Kinship Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust.
Loans may be used to support:
Start-up financing
Equipment financing
Healthy Food/Healthy Living financing
Business office improvements
Working capital
SBIF Grant financing
Many more
Knowing that you may have unique financing needs, GAC can work with you to develop a customized loan product to meet your needs. GAC also offers an array of services that help with financial planning, business-to-business contact, and planning for growth.