Widening the doors to community development

Since the start of their partnership in 2023, Everence Community Investments and Greenline Access Capital have helped numerous business owners make a positive impact in their neighborhoods.

In late 2025, Everence Community Investments and Everence Federal Credit Union closed on a loan with Raul Castro, a restaurant owner who was looking to renovate some property he owned into apartments. Raul had graduated from Jumpstart Philly, a training program that helps local community members learn how to become developers and invest in their neighborhoods through revitalization projects.

Raul started working with an architect but still needed a loan. The architect recommended a broker he had worked with on a prior project, and Raul reached out to them.

He asked for a $300,000 loan, and after receiving a comparable rate the process seemed to go without issue. However, when Raul received the final quote from the broker, he saw they were only going to give him $242,000, with the rest of the amount paying other fees.

Confused, he got in touch with Greenline Access Capital. He was introduced to the organization during a meeting of the Association of Mexican Business Owners of Philadelphia.

Roxanna Encarnacion, Vice President of Busines Lending at Greenline Access Capital, confirmed that the quote seemed off and put Raul in touch with Everence Federal Credit Union.

Byron Pellecer, CCUFC^®, serves as Community Development Officer at EFCU. He and Stella Tai, Stewardship Investing Impact and Analysis Manager at Praxis Investment Management^™, worked to develop a loan for the full amount Raul had requested.

“The goal of Everence Community Investments is to empower underserved communities, borrowers and businesses by providing access to capital.” Stella said. Oftentimes that’s by approving borrowers who wouldn’t have been approved in the traditional sense, or providing them with the knowledge to go through the proper channels of applying for a loan.

“We are trying to bridge that gap,” Stella said. “We think about how we can bring Everence resources and assets to meet borrowers where they’re at.”

“Working with Everence is like family,” Roxanna said. “This has been one of the best partnerships we have had.”

After closing on his loan with EFCU, Raul continues to work on his project and expects to have the renovations done by the end of summer 2026.