He made the loan the church needed to fix the roof and otherwise renovate the sanctuary. The loan was made because the bank president had personal knowledge of the particular situation and felt that a character loan was appropriate. He received high marks from CRA examiners, but low ones from safety and soundness examiners, who were not as flexible as perhaps they should have been. For while it is true that there are many profound differences between urban and rural areas, there do exist important similarities. Within distressed areas, both rural and urban America may suffer from disinvestment.
Capital can be scarce in both places.
In both, the need to find ways to combine resources and to collaborate across program lines and across county lines, for that matter, has never been more important. This is true not only for financial capital but for human capital as well. It has been apparent to me in my travels around the nation, that it is the skills and entrepreneurial drive of individuals committed to their neighborhoods, towns and regions that ensures successful and economically healthy communities. These folks can't do the job without capital, but capital alone is not enough without the commitment of talented people. But today, we can be much more optimistic.