SAINT JOHN – A former pawn shop at 133 Prince Edward Street has taken on a new look and a new life as the office for the Saint John Community Loan Fund.
On Monday Health Minister Mary Schryer, Supply and Services Minister Ed Doherty and Saint John East MLA Roly MacIntyre joined about 30 people to celebrate the building’s rebirth as an office at street level with two apartments on the upper floors.
“I have a great deal of admiration for the staff, who several years ago at a brainstorming session told us we should have a building,” said Louise Béland, president of the board of directors of the community loan fund. “We all recoiled in horror and said we couldn’t afford it, but only a few years later here we are in new offices.”
An offshoot of the Human Development Council, the fund is a micro lending agency that helps individuals with business loans, employment loans, shelter loans, financial literacy training and leadership training.
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