Spotlight Blog

Asylum Seekers Renting New Apartments

The completion of 60 rental units in Brunswick’s former Naval Air Station, coupled with MaineHousing’s commitment to providing rental subsidies for two years, marks a significant step in addressing the dire need for affordable housing for local asylum seekers.

A property owner stands in the stairwell with a father and his children, residents of his Lewiston rental property purchased with a Genesis Fund fee-based loan created for Muslim borrowers who are prohibited from paying interest.

Genesis Offers Muslim Borrowers a Path to Ownership by Filling a Gap in the Lending Market

For aspiring business owners like Yassin Moussa of Lewiston, Maine, acquiring a loan is often a critical step in embarking on a new enterprise. But for Yassin and others who practice the Islamic faith, the process can be complicated. Many Muslim borrowers are prohibited by their faith practice from paying interest to borrow funds. Most traditional lenders have been unable

Two men move a piece of furniture into the Somali Bantu Community Association's new office, purchased with financing from Genesis.

Ownership Helps Association Expand Service

The need was clear for the Somali Bantu Community Association in Lewiston, Maine: it had to replace cramped, leased office space in order to hire additional staff, expand community services, and otherwise grow. Founded in 2005, the association reaches more than 2,000 clients annually with translation and interpretation assistance, and guidance on navigating the healthcare system, IRS filing, immigration paperwork,

Exterior of one of the new Heritage Woods homes, built to be affordable workforce housing in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Workforce Housing Finds Tremendous Demand

“Workforce housing” enables teachers, police officers, firefighters, health care workers, and more to live close to their jobs. Shorter commutes give workers more time to take care of themselves, their families, and their communities, while economic and environmental advantages result from people not driving long distances. In Kennebunkport, Maine, two projects saw Genesis working with the Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust

Smiling volunteers stand outside their newly renovated community food pantry in Union, Maine.

Responding to Food Insecurity

Concerned about food-insecure families beyond their reach, organizers of the Come Spring Food Pantry in Knox County Maine worried that their pantry was hidden. It operated from the back corner of a small community center that lacked accessible parking. Then they saw a solution: a building for sale just down the road, offering a high-visibility location, ample parking, and 2,800

Yassin Moussa, a Muslim borrower who has purchased multiple properties in Lewiston with religiously compliant fee-based loans from Genesis.

A Path to Ownership for Muslim Borrowers

For aspring Islamic business owners, acquiring a loan can be complicated, because many Muslim borrowers are prohibited by their faith from paying interest to borrow funds. Such was the case for Yassin Mousa, a trained accountant determined to put to work his entrepreneurisal spirit and fluencey in four langues, when he settled in Lewiston, Maine after fleeing political violence in