For years, community development lenders and traditional financial institutions have invested heavily to expand access to capital in low-wealth communities. New loan products were introduced, technical assistance programs were expanded, and financial literacy became a cornerstone of many small-business support strategies. Yet despite these efforts, many entrepreneurs continued to turn to predatory lenders offering high-cost products with aggressive repayment terms, even when safer, more affordable financing options were available.
At WACIF, this raised an important question: if responsible capital exists, why do so many small business owners still choose harmful financial products over trusted financial relationships? We believed the answer could not be explained by access alone. Many entrepreneurs did not make financial decisions based solely on interest rates or product features. Their decisions were also shaped by lived experiences with financial institutions, family histories around money and borrowing, prior experiences with rejection or discrimination, and a broader distrust of systems that had historically excluded them. In many cases, entrepreneurs carried fear, shame, anxiety, and survival instincts into every financial interaction.
With generous support from TD Bank and in partnership with Building Bridges Across the River (Building Bridges) and Onyx Therapy Group (Onyx), WACIF launched the Resilient Futures initiative to better understand the role financial trauma plays in entrepreneurship, borrowing behavior, and long-term financial health. The goal was to identify what was working in communities and to better understand the barriers that prevent entrepreneurs from engaging with responsible financial institutions. With deep roots in trauma-informed practice and psychoeducational design, Onyx brought a practitioner-centered lens to the initiative, grounded in the belief that lasting change requires attending to internal organizational culture with the same rigor applied to external-facing programming.