The U.S. Treasury oversees the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which recently awarded a large grant to the Intersect Fund. Photograph by Steven Damron.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund announced yesterday that it would disburse more than $142 million to 155 groups throughout the United States that provide loans and financial services to low-income Americans.

One of those groups is the Intersect Fund – we’ll receive approximately $100,000 to strengthen our business training and lending capabilities. This will help us serve more clients and enhance our offerings.

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Clayton Insulation Founder Noel Castellanos has received microloans from the Intersect Fund to start and grow his business

Microfinance is perceived primarily as a way for low-income individuals to get capital they can invest in small businesses. But as a National Science Foundation-sponsored report showed last week, many borrowers in the developing world are using their loan dollars for non-business uses as well as entrepreneurial ventures.

“We need to know more about how people actually use their loans, and we should not be judgmental if the answer is not always for investment in enterprise, said Dean Karlan, the Yale economist who co-wrote the report, in a statement released Friday.

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Eva Jimenez applies for a Capital Good Fund Citizenship Loan

Note: The Intersect Fund is one of several student-driven microlenders. The following story introduces Eva Jimenez, who received a Citizenship Loan from Brown University’s Capital Good Fund.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Since leaving the Dominican Republic eight years ago, Eva Jimenez has carved out a rich and rewarding life here. She’s landed a steady job and pursued her passion for painting, displaying her work at several local galleries. But until a few months ago, she had yet to fulfill her most important dream: to vote.

Though Jimenez had attained permanent United States residency, full-fledged citizenship eluded the public school teacher’s assistant. The application fee alone would eat up nearly a month’s salary, and that excludes the hefty legal fees she’d have to pay. Jimenez wondered whether she could ever scrape the money together.

Luckily, help was available. Earlier this year, Jimenez heard about the Capital Good Fund, a non-profit microlender here aiming to combat poverty and foster a more inclusive society. She learned the group would soon offer Citizenship Loans, designed to help legal U.S. residents cover the cost of becoming citizens, and was eager to take part.

In March, Jimenez received the first Capital Good Fund Citizenship Loan.

In September, she became a citizen.

Now, she feels she has a full stake in her community. She will have more job opportunities. She will inspire others hoping to realize the American dream.

“I’m very happy about organizations like the Capital Good Fund,” said Jimenez. She adds that although many fellow Latino immigrants could become citizens, few can cover the cost. This makes Capital Good Fund loans essential. “We need it,” she said.