Bon Secours makes 5-year investment in CommunityWorks

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Bon Secours St. Francis will invest $750,000 in nonprofit CommunityWorks over a five-year period to help underserved families through financial education, lending and investing.

Bon Secours is distributing the loan as part of the hospital system’s Community Investment Program, where a portion of investment funds are given out as loans to community projects. These funds are available to borrowers at low or below-market rates to foster improvements in the overall health of communities, according to a news release.

“Helping people is at the heart of all we do,” Deb Long, director of community health for Bon Secours St. Francis, said in the release. “We know that serving our community doesn’t just stop at providing quality health care in our facilities. We must also do our part to help address other issues influencing the region such as affordable housing, education and employment. That’s why this loan is really an investment in our community.”

Bon Secours often develops long-term, collaborative relationships with local organizations like CommunityWorks to help improve the quality of life and health in local communities, according to the release.  While the Greenville-based organization opened its doors in 2008 as a local housing trust fund, it has since grown into a multi-faceted community development financial institution that provides financial education, as well as access to low-cost loans for affordable housing, community facilities and commercial revitalization, among other things.

“CommunityWorks is excited to expand our partnership with Bon Secours to support economic opportunities for underserved populations in core redeveloping areas,” Tammie Hoy Hawkins, CEO of CommunityWorks, said in the release. “Bon Secours has been a partner of ours since 2015. The increased investment will enable CW to expand partnerships and develop innovative financing that supports neighborhood-based small businesses and affordable housing opportunities in rapidly gentrified neighborhoods throughout Greenville.”

Bon Secours St. Francis is part of the Bon Secours Mercy Health System.