Jeff Rutt's Blog

Hi everyone, this is Jeff Rutt- I want to take a few moments to share with you another story about the transformative potential microfinance can have for men and women across the globe. Too often, we all seem to become consumed by the details, logistics, and operations behind what we’re doing, and perhaps lose sight of why we do what we do. Let’s all remember that in every technical and intricate aspect of operating microfinance, we should ultimately always return to focusing on our clients- men, women and children created and loved by God. I hope you enjoy this testimony from the Grameen Foundation.

Many blessings, Jeff Rutt

Charity Kulola, Kenya

http://www.grameenfoundation.org/our-impact/charity

When Charity Kulola was sixteen, her father married her off to a man, already husband to two women, in exchange for money for land. During their marriage, Charity bore seven daughters. Furious that she never bore a son, her husband expelled her and their daughters from his home. When Charity’s brother took her in, his wife told her about Yehu Microfinance Trust, Grameen Foundation’s partner in Kenya.

Yehu Microfinance Trust is a microfinance institution in Kenya and a recipient of financing from The Pioneer Fund. Grameen Foundation established this special fund to make sure that well-run local groups reaching the very poorest have access to the money they need to make loans and increase the number of women they serve.

Charity received her first loan of $64 in Kenyan Shillings and opened a stall selling coconuts in the rural coastal village of Chakareli.  With her second loan of $128, she started selling vegetables, too.  Charity recently took out a loan of $102 to invest in a retail shop and diversify her business.

Microfinance has opened up a world of opportunity for Charity and her daughters.  All seven are receiving a formal education, and the second eldest daughter is studying to be a nurse at a local medical school.

Thanks again for taking the time to read, please stay posted for more information

-Jeff Rutt

Hi everyone, this is Jeff Rutt with great news that I hope you’ll find encouraging. The African Development Bank has launched a microfinance fund with the intention of increasing transparency and effectiveness. This article, written by Ekow Quandzie at Ghana Business News, fills in the details.

Many blessings, Jeff Rutt

African Development Bank launches microfinance fund, calls for proposals from Ghana, others

The African Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership with the Government of Spain has launched the Microfinance Capacity Building Fund (MCBF) for Africa which will provide technical assistance to microfinance companies.

The AfDB says, the MCBF which was launched on July 19, 2011, will help increase transparency within the microfinance sector and deepen outreach to rural areas.

The Bank is therefore calling for proposals from countries such a Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and other countries within the West African Economic Monetary Union and ECOWAS.

“The fund will provide awards through three separate Calls for Proposals, occurring annually over the course of 2011 – 2013.  Each call will focus on a specific area(s) of intervention and a specific set(s) of African countries,” the AfDB noted.

The timelines for the MCBF project are as follows:

• July 19, 2011: First Call for Proposals opens

• September 19, 2011: Deadline to submit proposals for first phase

• October 2011: Grantees notified

• November 2011: Funds disbursed

• May 2012: Launch of Second Call for Proposals

• May 2013: Launch of Third Call for Proposals

The award amounts will range from approximately €200,000 to €500,000 per project, depending on the activity, and will be given to a total of approximately eight to 10 awardees.

http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/07/25/african-development-bank-launches-microfinance-fund-calls-for-proposals-from-ghana-others/

Thanks again for reading, stay tuned for more articles and comments, Follow me on Twitter

-Jeff Rutt

Reflecting the company’s core values, a percentage from each Keystone Custom Homes sale goes to HOPE International, a non-profit charitable network of microfinance institutions founded by Keystone Custom Homes CEO, Jeff Rutt, in 1997 in Lancaster, Pa. Only 13 years later, the now worldwide organization currently serves over 265,000 active clients. By providing small business loans and basic business training, HOPE empowers individuals to defeat poverty while preserving dignity. Because poverty disproportionately affects women and their children, HOPE International concentrates over 80 percent of its efforts on women. Jeff Rutt’s ongoing leadership of HOPE earned him the national Hearthstone Builder Humanitarian Award in 2008.

Please check out this blog: http://www.homes4hope.org/

Homes for Hope began as a program of HOPE International in early 1999, when HOPE’s founder, Jeff Rutt, was searching for ways to support HOPE International as it expanded to alleviate poverty in some of the poorest places on earth, now including countries such as Haiti, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Because he was a homebuilder by trade (founder of Keystone Custom Homes), Jeff approached his trade partners—the subcontractors, suppliers, and consultants who helped him build homes—and asked them if they would help him generate revenue for HOPE International’s mission by doing what they all did best…building a home. These Keystone trade partners, under Jeff’s leadership, established the Homes for Hope program. Since that time Homes for Hope has developed into a separate 501(c)(3) organization and has raised over $10,000,000 in support of HOPE International’s microenterprise work around the world. Homes for Hope currently operates in nine states across the country, typically in affiliation with a local homebuilding association in each area a Home for Hope is built.

A video of a local news channel from awhile back, to show how HOPE was started and is quickly becoming one of the best charities in the United States!

HOPE In the News

Meeting some interesting People from Russia

Mariya is married and has two grown children. She is an entrepreneur, from Vodyanoye, who owns 4 small greenhouses and grows vegetables for sale (i.e. tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes). Mariya launched her small business 30 years ago. Currently, her whole family is actively involved in this successful venture with a working capital of 60,000 Grivnyas. They spend 15,000-20,000 Grivnyas on seeds and clear polyethylene film every year.

In December, 4^th 2009 Mariya took a loan in the amount of 10,000 Grivnya for 8 months to re-construct her regular greenhouse into an arch one with condensate control features. She believes this type of greenhouse design will be functional at both shedding snow and combating overhead drip. Mariya realizes that this type of business is very prosperous for her region and she is hoping to continue growing her business in the future.

Galyshka Sergei

Sergei is married and has one grown-up daughter, Irina, and one teenage son, Evgeniy. The whole family lives in Vodyanoye. Sergei runs a greenhouse and raises tomatoes and cucumbers. He started this business four years ago. Today he’s got ten greenhouses and wants to add even more. He was able to purchase a mini tractor to cultivate the land. Last year his greenhouses were damaged because of heavy snow. In February, 19 2010 he applied for a loan in the amount of 10,000 hryvnia for 5 months to purchase seven units of film to cover the damaged areas and set the heating in the greenhouses. Sergei is a hardworking person and enjoys his farming business very much. His working capital makes up 100,000-120,000 Hryvnas yearly. Sergei spends 15,000-20,000 Grivnyas on seeds and clear polyethylene film every year. He has 150,000 Grivnas invested in the business.

Kuyanova Tatyana

Tatyana is divorced with two children. She is a farmer from Kamenka. Tatyana grows early spring vegetables such as tomatoes and radishes. She owns 2 big greenhouses and one separate, spacious greenhouse for seedlings. Tatyana started this business 10 years ago. Presently, she has about 40,000 Grivnyas invested in this business. Annually she spends about 15,000 Grivnyas on seeds and film, her working capital makes up 50,000-60,000 Gryvnyas per year.

In March, 22, 2010 Tatyana has received a loan amounting in 10,000 Grivnyas for 4 months to purchase 3 rolls of polyethylene film to repair her greenhouse and to buy fertilizers for the upcoming sowing season. Tatyana enjoys learning new things. Currently she is studying in a local college of business and finance to get a degree and to learn some banking and financing principles. Tatyana’s elder son is just about to finish school. Therefore, she is hoping to generate additional income and save some money to help him through college.

Alexei Lyashenko

Alexei is married with a 3-year-old son, Daniel. He is a farmer from Kamenka. Alexei grows early spring vegetables, like tomatoes, radish, etc. He owns two well-equipped arch greenhouses and two separate greenhouses for seedlings. Alexei has been in the agricultural business for eight years. Presently, he has invested 80,000 Grivnyas in this venture. Every year, he spends about 15,000 – 20,000 Grivnyas on seeds and polyethylene film. Alexei’s working capital makes up 90.000 Grivnas per year.
Alexei has received a 7,000-Grivnya loan for 6 months in May 2010 to purchase metal fittings and accessories for construction of his new greenhouse where he is planning to grow late tomatoes. He works hard to see his business succeed. He is ready to work all summer long to gather two harvests of tomatoes and generate additional income as a result.

Press Release Link

It is hardly news that Grand Homes has a new home for sale in Mansfield, particularly in this housing market. But this three-bedroom home with 2,100 square feet of living space stands out from others on the market.

When it is sold for about $170,000, every dime will go to Homes for HOPE, which raises money for HOPE International to fund microenterprise loans of $45 to $200. The loans are designed to help hundreds of people start or expand small businesses in countries such as the Congo, Haiti and Afghanistan.

Stephen Brooks, Grand’s CEO, agreed to build the home in Mansfield when a Pennsylvania homebuilder, Jeff Rutt, told him about HOPE, which Rutt had started. That was 18 months ago when the housing market in Texas was strong. By the time Grand, dozens of contractors and the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas (HBA) started building the structure, the housing market had softened. Brooks expected that some of the contractors would bail out on their commitments to build a house for free. But none did.

Mike Lennon, who heads Homes for HOPE, expected Grand and its contractors “to tell us to come back next year. And some [builders] around the country have. But Grand didn’t. It is an amazing story.”

A total of 60 homes have been built in nine states, raising $10 million.

When the Mansfield structure was finished, Grand thought it had a buyer. But then tragedy stuck. The family buying the home was hit in a car accident, and the family’s 2-year-old son suffered a brain injury that hospitalized him and required the mother to leave her job. That resulted in the family being unable to buy the house.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Grand donated $10,000 for the family’s medical expenses and put the house up for sale again.

“That’s the kind of stuff we can’t get enough of,” Lennon says of Grand Homes’ generosity.

Rutt started HOPE and Homes for HOPE after he went to the Ukraine to deliver food and supplies. A local minister asked Rutt not to bring more supplies because it undercut local businesses.

Rutt then decided to launch HOPE, which is similar to the microenterprise program made famous by Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. HOPE now makes loans in 14 of the world’s poorest countries. It has about 265,000 clients. And its repayment rate of 99.6 percent would make any banker drool.

“It is a hand up, not a hand out,” Lennon says.

Grand, which was named the HBA’s Builder of the Year this year, has supported a variety of local charities from fighting cancer to hurricane relief. It has built and donated a house in Mexico. Grand staffers built a house for Habitat for Humanity. But Brooks and his team are even more excited about the Homes for HOPE program.

“We are so blessed. We will do it again,” Brooks says.

Appropriately, it is part of the company’s program, called Grand Beginnings.

Stewart Lytle

stewart.lytle@sbcglobal.net

It was a great honor and privilege to be recognized by the Senate of Pennsylvania for my accomplishments as a home builder and for my work with Hope International. Here is a transcript of the letter I received from Senator Gibson E. Armstrong!

Copy of the letter to Jeff Rutt from the Pennsylvania Senate

February 12, 2008
Whereas, Jeffrey C. Rutt, owner and President of Keystone Custom Homes, Inc., is being honored with the 2008 Hearthstone BUILDER Humanitarian Award; and

Whereas, Mr. Rutt is founder of HOPE International, a Lancaster-based microfinance institution that empowers those living in need around the world to overcome many barriers through the provision of microloans, savings services, training and mentoring. Using his own funds, he founded the organization in 1997. Mr Rutt continues to be actively involved with HOPE International not only as a donor but also by serving as Chairman of its Board of Trustees; and Whereas, To Mr. Rutt’s great credit, Keystone Custom Homes, Inc has been awarded “Builder Magazine’s” America’s Best Home Builder award three times. He has also served as President of the Lancaster Building Industry Association and chaired local committees and boards. Additionally his contributions to local and international causes have been substantive.

Now therefore, the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania congratulates Jeffrey C. Rutt on the great honor which has been bestowed upon him; affirmatively states that his noble humanitarian endeavors will long be remembered and appreciated;

And directs that a copy of this document, sponsored by Senator Gibson E. Armstrong, be transmitted to Jeffrey C. Rutt.