Happy 2016 from all of us at Friendship Bridge! We are excited for all that’s in store this year for Friendship Bridge and thankful for all that you helped us accomplish in 2015. With your support, last year we disbursed $14.1 million in small loans to nearly 30,000 clients! Here are a few other exciting achievements from 2015.
- Piloted new Salud para la Vida health program, serving 1,116 clients with preventive health services and providing health education to nearly 2,800 clients. An astounding 69% of eligible clients opted to access health services.
- Opened a new branch office in San Marcos, creating employment opportunities for 9 new staff members and adding 1,152 clients.
- Delivered 189,000 hours of Non-Formal Education, 848 hours of Advanced Education, and 100 hours of mentorship and leadership training.
- Maintained industry-leading loan repayment rate of 98.4%.
- Offered 2,170 CrediEscolar loans to help clients support their children’s education.
- Launched new initiatives for our artisan and agriculture clients – we’ll share more about these initiatives this year!
Our Microcredit Plus program continues to grow as we add Plus services and additional products beyond standard microloans. Clients who access these Plus services and additional products are less vulnerable to poverty, and our survey data shows that the longer a woman is in our Microcredit Plus program, the more likely she is to exit extreme poverty. In fact, 95% of our clients feel their income has increased or stabilized, and feel that their income is providing them a sense of security from life’s uncertainties.
Thank you for being a part of this exciting work. Through our Microcredit Plus program women’s lives are truly being transformed as they are creating better futures for themselves, their families, and their communities.