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Small Dollar Solutions

Reducing Work Interruptions for Employers

In Chicago, nearly 800,000 adults are one emergency away from a financial crisis that can hurt workplace performance or cost them their job. Small Dollar Solutions addresses this gap by helping employees get access to affordable, same-day emergency cash, while helping them build savings and credit.

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Of nearly $50 billion in commitments to advancing racial equity made since 2020, large financial institutions have committed more than 90% in the form of debt.
The Washington Post
Corporate America's $50 Billion Promise
THE CHALLENGE

Financial Fragility is a Workplace Problem

In the United States, 78% of families live paycheck to paycheck — including nearly 800,000 Chicagoans who can’t cover an unexpected $400 expense. This is not just felt among low-wage employees, but across the income spectrum, impacting Chicagoans and the companies they work for.
Employees experiencing financial stress are 2x more likely to miss work or lose their jobs
Those with low or no credit have few options that don’t put them in a cycle of debt
This has real world impacts – with nearly half of adults skipping a necessary expense in 2025, such as medical bills or car repairs

Opportunity

Companies have a unique ability to help employees address this gap, without hitting their balance sheets. By partnering with one of the Corporate Coalition’s financial partners – made up of banks and credit unions in the Chicago region – companies can provide access to same-day, low-interest loans to their staff to reduce workplace interruptions, while strengthening their financial stability.

Loans are offered at half the market rate without a credit check.
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Repayments are completed through a simple payroll deduction
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Repayments happen over 6-12 months, so employees only repay a small amount per pay period
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Once loans are repaid, employees can keep contributing into a savings account

How it works.

Company-Lender Partnerships
Companies select the benefit provider among the Corporate Coalition’s partners. Often, companies can partner with banks with whom they already have a relationship.
Payroll Deductions
Once a partner is selected, they work together to facilitate the payroll deduction protocol. Because this is built into the companies' pre-existing processes, it is a quick setup.
Communication to Employees
Once the benefit is operational, companies communicate it to prospective and existing employees – differentiating it from other financial benefits like earned wage access.
E-CAP will invest in four types of projects:
  • Commercial developments of less than $5 million value, such as restaurant, strip mall, food co-op
  • Commercial developments of more than $5 million value, such as grocery store, entertainment complex
  • Mixed-use residential and commercial developments, such as apartments with ground-floor retail
  • Community projects prioritizing neighborhood and community impact, such as below market-rate office spaces, education center
E-CAP-supported projects are intended to benefit from and help ensure the success of other, existing projects (e.g. near points of interest that provide strong neighborhood foundation), existing private investments that boost housing and drive dollars to local businesses, or major public and private projects that provide jobs and amenities and increase foot traffic from the neighborhood and outside the area.  
Leadership
E-CAP is a partnership of the Chicago Community Loan Fund, with its extensive track record of community investing, and the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, which brings connections to businesses committed to ensuring that all neighborhoods in the region thrive.
Pathway to Impact
E-CAP’s pathway to impact has four components:
  • Invest in Underserved Markets
    E-CAP invests in projects that bring quality jobs, goods, services, and amenities directly to communities in Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods
  • Stimulate Economic Activity
    The pace and volume of community projects increase, providing residents with greater access to jobs and services that lead to a better quality of life, attract new residents, and increase market confidence.
  • Improve Market Conditions
    Projects supported by E-CAP, with other development, help diminish the perceived risk of investing in disinvested communities, over time supporting more conventional market-rate investment and other economic activity.
  • Change Financing Landscape
    The financing marketplace will incorporate equity capital into their product mix, and corporate investors will consider community real estate funds and projects as viable investment options.
Learning
Cohort members participate in a learning series twice per month, building skills and a foundational understanding of resilience practices.
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Multi User
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Unlimited Viewers
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Pro Insights
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Integrations with Figma, Jira, Dropbox
Whitelabelling
Sharing
Cohort members share their own experiences, challenges, solutions, and resources in meetings and smaller affinity groups to accelerate shared progress.
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Multi User
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Unlimited Viewers
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Pro Insights
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Integrations with Figma, Jira, Dropbox
Whitelabelling
Taking Action
Cohort members take action in ways that work for their organization, based on ideas in the learning series, a customized assessment, and a catalog of services and expertise.
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Multi User
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Unlimited Viewers
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Pro Insights
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Integrations with Figma, Jira, Dropbox
Whitelabelling
IMPACT

Small Dollar Solutions

Stronger workforce retention.
Employers see up to 20% higher retention as employees experience greater financial stability, reducing stress-driven turnover and strengthening workforce reliability.
A benefit that differentiates employers in a competitive talent market.
Two-thirds of employees say access to this benefit makes their employer stand out, supporting attraction, engagement, and loyalty in a competitive labor market.
Improved financial security that leads to to long-term stability.
Nearly all participating employees build emergency savings (95%) and improve their credit (96%), helping them manage unexpected expenses today, save for unexpected future shocks, and open doors to homeownership, car loans, and other wealth-building assets.

Leon walker

Managing Partner, DL3 Realty
"We want to see capital hit the streets and change lives—not just aspirational headlines."
The Corporate Coalition advances Leon's mission.
DL3 is committed to investing equity capital into high-impact real estate projects that create a ripple effect in Chicago's historically disinvested communities.

The Corporate Coalition provides a forum where we can connect with other like-minded stakeholders and source funding for projects that improve economic prospects and the lives of local residents.
DL3 supports EPIC.
EPIC will provide the necessary pre-development capital and gap funding so that South and West Side developers can close deals and move their communities forward. I am excited to help shape this timely initiative that can be implemented and scaled to connect Black and Brown entrepreneurs to impact equity capital.

This is just the beginning.

Small Dollar Solutions aims to turn short-term cash gaps into long-term opportunity.

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Talk to us about Small Dollar Solutions
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