Hebrew Free Loan Association (San Francisco, Calif.)

In 1897, San Francisco's Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) was organized to make interest free loans. In 1910, it turned over its membership of nearly 1,000 people to the newly formed Federation of Jewish Charities. Before the Great Depression, many applications were received from Eastern European emigrants. During the Great Depression, Eastern European immigrants, many of whom were farmers in Petaluma and Sebastopol, Calif., were aided by the HFLA, the Jewish Agricultural Society, and the Abraham Haas Loan Fund. Refugees from Nazi Germany were also helped by the HFLA, as were those who came to America following the Soviet occupation of Hungary in 1956. In 1964, it funded a special loan program for education. After the Arab-Israel War in 1967, many Egyptian, Moroccan, and Algerian Jews applied for aid. Similarly, many Israelis came to the HFLA after the Arab-Israel War in 1973. Applications also increased during the depression of the 1970s.