Have not vetted this, but dropping a link in case anyone wants to do it themselves and/or is planning to move: https://www.keshetonline.org/movetothrive/
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This program seems interesting, but I didn’t know anything about the organization either. A friend and I took some time the other day to do some research and here’s what we found.
When you try applying for a loan, you’ll see another organization’s logo on the form which suggests that they are partnering with someone else to provide the service. The other organization is called the Hebrew Free Loan Society (HFLS).
If you look up HFLS online, you can find a press release on their website announcing the partnership with Keshet and it has a link to the Move to Thrive program on the Keshet website: Keshet and HFLS Launch “Move to Thrive” Interest-Free Loan Program for LGBTQ+ | Hebrew Free Loan Society (HFLS)
HFLS is apparently an organization that has been around for quite a while. According to the Smithsonian’s American Jewish Historical Society, the society has existed since 1892. You can find news articles about the society in the New York Times going as far back as 1983 (maybe even earlier, I didn’t check).
Both the American Jewish Historical Society’s article and an article from The City University of New York (CUNY) link to the same HFLS website which has the aforementioned partnership announcement with Keshet.
I’ve also done some checking around for anecdotal reports about the organization’s behavior, and it appears to be positive. They also don’t require applicants to be Jewish and, in fact, it appears they historically never had any religious or racial requirements for their loans. To me, it seems like the offer is legitimate.
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