Martin Eakes cofounded Self-Help, a community development lender, in 1980. Self-Help has provided $8 billion in financing to more than 85,000 homebuyers, small businesses, and nonprofits. Self-Help reaches people who are underserved by conventional lenders—particularly persons of color, immigrants, women, rural residents, and low-wealth families. Self-Help has 75 branch offices in North Carolina, California, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. In 2002, Eakes helped establish an affiliate of Self-Help, the Center for Responsible Lending, which battles predatory mortgage and payday lenders across the country and fights to protect homeownership and family wealth for working families.
