Micro Credit to Support Alzheimer’s Victims

Micro credit is one way in which Leeza’s Place, a program from The Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation, is helping to raise awareness and gain support for Alzheimer’s research.  The newest project from Leeza’s Place is a documentary to be shown on CNN in May.  The special, Unthinkable: the Alzheimer’s Epidemic will feature Larry King’s crew trailing Leeza as she conducts interviews with caregivers regarding their work and experiences with the “thief of memories”.  In addition to the documentary, centers such as Leeza’s Place help to raise funds and help people through various crowdfunding programs. Leeza will also take viewers into a Leeza’s Place support center where caregivers receive training and activities designed to help them in their journey.

Raising Awareness

Alzheimer’s is a pervasive disease and it is estimated that 5.4 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with the condition.  Currently it is number six on the list for leading cause of death, yet much is still unknown about it.

Host Larry King will be joined by many people who have been touched in some way by Alzheimer’s disease and will include interviews with Leeza Gibbons; the former First Lady of California and Alzheimer’s activist Maria Shriver; former First Lady Laura Bush; actors Angie Dickinson; Seth Rogen and David Hyde Pierce; football star Terrell Owens and Ron Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan.  Also included in the documentary will be Dr. Sanjay Gupta who is a neurosurgeon and the CNN chief medical correspondent.  Dr. Gupta will explain Alzheimer’s and how it can affect the human brain.

Those who want to help people such as Alzheimer’s suffers can make a donation through crowdfunding and micro credit programs.

Micro Credit News – Boy George Urges People to Donate Online

Micro Credit News: Boy George has chosen to speak out about his charity, Hep Trust, an organization that educates and assists people with Hepatitis C, a highly infectious disease. The Hep Trust is designed to help people deal with the disease as well as the stigma attached. Hepatitis is frequently – and wrongly – related to drugs users. While drugs users may contract Hepatitis C, it is certainly not an exclusive relationship.

Recent statistics show that there are 250,000 – 500,000 people infected with the disease in the UK, however only an approximate around 90,000 have been properly diagnosed.

TV Show Requests Micro Credit Donations

George went on a popular UK morning TV show to explain his cause and ask people to donate online: “I have just done this exhibition for the Hep Trust, which is a charity. Apparently 75 per cent of people that have it don’t know they have it.”

The 1980s pop icon is referring to an art exhibit that is scheduled to be auctioned off in March. Various people will appear in portraits dressed as well known celebrities. For example, Paloma Faith will appear as Boy George and Sadie Frost will appear as Madonna.

People interested in assisting the Hep Trust can also donate online.

Micro Credit Opportunities

The charity was founded in 2001 to act as an advocate for people with Hepatitis C. Previously, the disease was not one frequently talked about because of the stigma attached to it. The Hep Trust is an organization operated entirely by present and former patients with the disease. Staff consists of both paid and volunteer workers. Raising awareness for the organization also includes getting involved with micro credit.

Some Micro Credit Organizations Forgetting Mission

As micro credit organizations move to ensure their longevity through profitability, many tend to forget their original mission: to provide loan access to the very poor. That is, with the focus tending to veer more onto company profits, the hunt inevitably leads to a more “profitable” way of lending money, which often means that the poor ultimately lose out as organizations become more insular.

Extending Micro Credit to the Poor Costs More

The original micro finance concept was to fund business concerns for the very poor. If recipients are given access to these limited funds at reasonable loan rates, they can go on to create sustainable differences for themselves and their communities. Once the business concern is up and running, then repayment of the loan can take place and the next micro loan can be granted. New businesses and jobs are subsequently created by those who need help the most.

In 2007, Dutch economist Pim Engels determined to look at the profits of micro credit financing organizations as compared to the number of very poor customers receiving loans from those same financiers. Engels discovered that as the micro financing organizations grew in profits and looked more to their private operations, the number of poor individuals served subsequently declined – quite significantly. This is because, “It’s more expensive to finance poor business people: they borrow smaller amounts…and they pay the money back quickly.”  This ultimately equates to less profit for the credit organization. One way in which micro creditors have chosen to deal with the higher costs is to implement higher interest rates.

With these trends, Engels is calling for a return to responsible banking for micro credit lenders. That is, re-establish the basic mission: make loans available to the very poor at reasonable interest rates, and expect repayment quickly.

Despite the downward trend explained above, many such organizations are still providing funds to the very poor. According to Engel’s study, Mission Drift in MicroFinance, funding has not stopped but it has considerably slowed down. Unlike many of these organizations, Microgiving remains dedicated to helping the very poor. If you believe you can work through us as a donor, please visit us online today and see how our very own micro credit services are helping the poor.