{"id":4224,"date":"2015-03-18T16:06:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wordpress\/?p=4224"},"modified":"2015-03-18T16:27:06","modified_gmt":"2015-03-18T21:27:06","slug":"lehigh-financial-group-helps-inner-city-community-center-find-mortgage-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=4224","title":{"rendered":"Lehigh Financial Group Helps Inner City Community Center Find Mortgage Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lehigh<\/p>\n

\u201cChampion Center\u201d To Offer Daycare, Cooking Classes, Recording Studio, Mentoring\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Allentown, Pa<\/em>. \u2013 A new community center offering daycare, cooking classes, a recording studio and mentoring for disadvantaged youth in one of Allentown\u2019s inner-city neighborhoods will open this summer thanks to financing arranged by Lehigh Financial Group.<\/p>\n

The Champion Center at 143 Linden St. will be housed in the former Casa Guadalupe building, which was purchased Feb. 26 by Carmen and Jesus \u201cGee\u201d Rendon, who operates the Children At Promise daycare at LifeChurch in East Allentown. The proposed daycare will be an expansion of that program to a new location, offering care for children from infant through Pre-K, Rendon said.<\/p>\n

In addition, Rendon and her husband, a pastor at LifeChurch, say they plan to renovate the building and provide cooking classes, a recording studio and a safe haven with mentoring for inner-city youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community outreach aspect of the program will operate after the daycare is closed for the day. That is one of the provisions of the zoning agreement,\u201d Carmen Rendon said. \u201cWe want to target youth and young adults, to build a bridge to reach them. We also plan to offer a self-esteem program for girls to help them cope in today\u2019s society and the urban environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis Edwards of Lehigh Financial Group said his company was able to arrange the $144,000 mortgage for the purchase of the property after several mainstream banks expressed reluctance to consider the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice building and she will create some jobs down there,\u201d Edwards said, adding that the opportunity to help create positive growth in a low income, minority neighborhood is one of the aspects that attracted Lehigh Financial to the concept. \u201cIt\u2019s a good community project and it will be fantastic for the downtown neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carmen<\/a>The Rendons are high-school sweethearts who grew up in Center City \u2013 Gee Rendon grew up, literally, in a home right behind the proposed Champion Center and attended Louis E. Dieruff High School while Carmen Rendon attended William Allen High School. Gee Rendon played basketball at Dieruff and later attended a bible college; his wife was a field hockey stand-out who attended Allentown Business School and Bloomsburg University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to go to the summer programs at Casa Guadalupe (now located on 2nd<\/sup> Street) and it made a difference in my life,\u201d said Gee Rendon. \u201cWe both benefitted from mentors in our lives and we want to help make a difference for kids today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carmen Rendon said several of the programs will be done in conjunction with other organizations and agencies.<\/p>\n

Both say the purchase could not have happened without the assistance and direction from Lehigh Financial Group, which includes Edwards and founder Jeff Barber. Lehigh Financial helps clients find and arrange financing for loans ranging from $100,000 to $5 million for purchase or refinances all types of properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was everything. They were critical to our success,\u201d Carmen Rendon said. \u201cThe represented us well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barber said that Lehigh Financial specializes in assisting clients at a time when bank financing \u2013 especially for commercial lending \u2013 is still difficult for many borrowers to arrange. \u201cWe can help cut through the red tape and encourage economic development and redevelopment throughout the region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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