There’s good news for returning citizens in Philadelphia thanks to a Charlottesville-based nonprofit. The Fountain Fund, an organization launched in 2017 to provide low-interest loans and financial counseling to returning citizens, has expanded to Philly after being selected to receive funding by the GreenLight Fund Philadelphia.

“We’re based here and always had plans of being in other places because we know that there are so many barriers that people face and there are so many great ideas that people have when they’re returning home. And so we want to remove those barriers and let them realize their own self-determined goals,” said Fountain Fund Executive Director Erika Viccellio in a March 16 interview on Charlottesville Right Now. “So that should happen everywhere, and now it’s coming to Philly.”

Since its inception, the Fountain Fund, which was founded by former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Tim Heaphy, has already provided 400 low-interest micro-loans totaling over $1.5 million to 350 program participants.

The expansion was made possible by a partnership with GreenLight Fund Philadelphia, an organization whose mission is to identify critical community needs, bring in entrepreneurial programs and galvanize local support for those programs.

After a nationwide search for an organization that could support economic mobility for returning citizens, GreenLight Philadelphia chose the Fountain Fund to receive $600,000 over four years to open the operation in the City of Brotherly Love.

“When we ran our selection cycle last year, what kept getting lifted up is that we have a lot of folks that come home from prison or jail every year, and while there are really great support services in Philadelphia, having access to capital is something that we found that we just didn’t have in the city,” said Greenlight Fund Philadelphia President Felicia Rinier. “The Fountain Fund just came up on top in almost and in every category,” she said. 

The Fountain Fund Philadelphia office opened on Thursday, March 16, and the new director of client and community engagement in Philadelphia, Mike Butler, says he’s already fielding calls.

“I’m just a big person on giving people opportunity, opening more doors than that are currently open, especially coming from incarceration,” Butler said. “I believe that this program is the program to get it done.” 

Viccellio praises GreenLight Fund Philadelphia and Rinier in particular for providing support and the creating connections in Philadelphia. 

“To have her introduce us to Philadelphia so that we can do this well and do it in a way that makes sense for that community is as valuable as the money is,” Viccellio said.

Click here for the full interview on Charlottesville Right Now with Erika Viccellio, Felicia Rinier and Mike Butler.