The Beneficent mission began in Waterloo with university students and recent graduates who witnessed the need for debt relief in their own social circles – students, peers, and friends who were entrenched in debt with no reprieve. After highly successful crowdfunding attempts to raise funds to indebted students, and the realization that many more are indebted, this group of students and graduates realized that debt relief should be a communal affair to strengthen community ties and avoid interest. Thus, Beneficent took shape as a non-profit organization in Canada. At Beneficent, we envision a world in which people are able to seek out financing options that are rooted in empowerment. At Beneficent, we are dedicated to providing interest-free financing to community members suffering from short-term high interest-bearing debt, and educational tools to empower them to achieve and maintain economic self-reliance.