Local Heroes

• Community Capital Bank in Brooklyn, New York, begun five years ago, makes loans to moderate- and low-income entrepreneurs, multiunit housing owners and nonprofit groups. (718) 802-1212.

• Community Bank of the Bay received approval in 1995 to raise $6 million in capital to serve low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, multiunit housing owners and nonprofits in the Oakland-San Francisco metropolitan area. (510) 271-8400.

• Community First Bank of DC, N.A., received preliminary approval in 1995 to raise $7 million to serve low- and moderate-income business owners and home buyers in the nation's capital.

(202) 338-8993.

• Self-Help Credit Union, founded in 1980, specializes in small-business and home lending to women, minorities, rural residents and underserved low-income families in North Carolina. (919) 956-4400.

• Bank of America Community Development Bank focuses on financing construction of low- and moderate-income multiunit housing and lending for government-guaranteed small-business loans. (800) B-OF-A-055.

• Neighborhood Bank Corp. recently received a national charter to operate in 27 communities in Southern California, offering commercial and housing loans. (619) 544-1642.

• Community Development Bank in Los Angeles is in the early planning stages, with pledges of $430 million in federal money and $210 million from local banks. (800) 491-CITY.

This article was originally published in the February 1996 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Local Heroes.