Nearly every city in the U.S. has an area plagued by poverty,crime, vacant store fronts and abandoned homes.

In Tallahassee, Fla., the northwest section of the capitolcity's historic Frenchtown is impoverished, but over the lastseveral years, churches, community groups and social serviceagencies have been making slow but steady progress with a varietyof revitalization initiatives.

Until recently, however, a key part of Frenchtown'sredevelopment had been missing. That missing part was the need fora traditional, community-based financial institution to helpresidents get out of payday loan debt traps and provide loans thatsupport Frenchtown's journey of economic recovery.