Mission-Based Lending for the DSP Workforce
Intrinsic Finance is building a responsible micro-lending platform to help Direct Support Professionals manage financial emergencies, stay employed, and build stability.
A responsible lending model under development. Subject to applicable licensing and regulatory approval. Nothing here is an offer to lend or a solicitation of investment.
Money that comes back around
Repaid funds return to the pool — to help the next worker.
Where do you fit in the Intrinsic Finance story?
Which best describes you?
What state do you work in?
You're a great fit for the DSP interest list.
We'll let you know as soon as Intrinsic Finance opens applications in your state.
Join the DSP interest list →Let's talk about partnering with your agency.
Your team is exactly who Intrinsic Finance is being designed alongside. See the ROI estimator and book an intro conversation.
Mission-aligned capital is core to the model.
Explore the returns modeler and request the investor brief when it's available.
Thanks for your interest in the mission.
Get in touch and we'll point you to the right resources — press, partnerships, or general updates.
Get in touch →A $600 car repair shouldn't cost someone their job.
Direct Support Professionals do some of the most essential work in our communities — supporting people with disabilities to live full, independent lives. Yet many DSPs live close to the financial edge.
When a tire blows, a utility bill comes due, or childcare falls through, there's often no buffer. A small emergency turns into missed shifts, lost income, and — too often — a lost job. The people they support lose a trusted caregiver. The agency loses a trained worker. Everyone pays the cost of instability.
Why emergencies destabilize work
One unplanned expense can ripple outward — into transportation, housing, childcare, and ultimately employment. The cost of a small gap is rarely small.
The high-cost trap
Payday and high-interest products fill the gap today and deepen the hole tomorrow. We're designing a model meant to be the responsible alternative — not another debt cycle.
Small loans. Real stability. Measurable impact.
We're designing a lending system where mission-aligned capital is deployed responsibly — to help DSPs through short-term emergencies while protecting them from harmful, high-cost debt.
Responsible by design
Clear terms, no hidden fees, no predatory rates, and a repayment plan built to fit a real paycheck — not to trap a borrower.
Built for everyday needs
Car repairs, a rent gap, utilities, childcare, emergency travel — the practical things that keep a person housed, mobile, and on the schedule.
Capital that recycles
Repaid funds flow back into the pool, so the same dollar can help one worker after another. Impact compounds instead of disappearing.
One mission, three ways to take part.
When life creates an emergency
- Small, responsible loans for real needs
- A respectful process — not a judgment
- Transparent terms and supportive repayment
Put capital to work with purpose
- Workforce stability and social impact
- Community reinvestment with measurable outcomes
- A sustainable, responsibly structured model
A benefit that steadies your team
- Fewer missed shifts from financial shocks
- Stronger recruitment and retention
- Meaningful support DSPs can trust
Designed to prove its worth — in numbers.
These are the outcomes the model is being built to track. They are illustrative targets for a future pilot, not results.
Figures shown are illustrative design targets for a future pilot — not guarantees, performance results, or current offerings.
Responsible lending for the people who support our communities.
A mission-based alternative to high-cost emergency borrowing should look and feel different from one. These are the standards we're building the platform around.
- Affordable, transparent terms
You'll always know the full cost before you borrow. No surprises, no fine-print traps.
- No predatory rates, no debt traps
The model is designed to help you recover from an emergency — not to keep you borrowing.
- Borrower dignity and privacy
A respectful review process and strong data protection are part of the design from day one.
- Compliance-first, mission-first
We intend to operate within applicable laws and to deploy capital where it does the most good.
Helping DSPs stay stable, employed, and supported.
Join the interest list to follow our progress, or reach out to explore partnering with us as an employer or mission investor.
Mission-aligned capital, deployed with care.
Intrinsic Finance is an affiliate of Intrinsic Inc. — the team that powers quality, compliance, and operational excellence for HCBS providers. We're extending that same care to the financial stability of the workforce those providers depend on.
A lending system built around the people it serves.
Our goal is to build a lending system where mission-aligned capital can be responsibly deployed to help Direct Support Professionals with short-term financial needs — while protecting borrowers from the harmful, high-cost debt cycles that emergencies so often trigger.
DSPs are the backbone of community-based care. When they're financially stable, the people they support have continuity, agencies retain trained staff, and communities are stronger. When they're not, everyone feels it. Intrinsic Finance treats that stability as something worth investing in.
This is a model under development. We're approaching it carefully, compliance-first, and in partnership with the agencies, workers, and mission investors who understand this workforce best.
An affiliate of Intrinsic Inc.
Intrinsic Inc. helps HCBS providers stay compliant, efficient, and successful — with systems for tracking, HR, billing, and audit support. Intrinsic Finance carries that mission to the next frontier: the financial stability of the direct-care workforce itself.
- Workforce-first
- Responsible by design
- Built to be measured
Principles we're building on.
Dignity over judgment
People in a tight spot deserve respect. The borrower experience is being designed to feel supportive, private, and human.
Transparency as a default
Clear terms, plain language, and honest disclosures aren't a feature — they're the baseline this is built on.
Stability as the goal
Success isn't volume of loans — it's workers who stay housed, mobile, employed, and supported through a rough patch.
Who's keeping us honest.
A responsible lender needs more than good intentions. Intrinsic Finance is being built around an independent advisory structure that will own the standards this work is held to.
DSP Advisory Council
A standing group of current and former DSPs with veto-style input on product, pricing, communications, and dispute policy. No DSP-facing change ships without their review.
Forming · 2026Compliance & Lending Counsel
External consumer-finance counsel reviewing licensing, rate caps, disclosures, servicing, and complaint handling state-by-state before any lending begins.
Engaged · 2026Impact & Audit Committee
Independent reviewers — including provider-sector and CDFI representatives — who validate published metrics, audit findings, and any deviation from stated standards.
Forming · 2026Structural guardrails, not just policies.
- Separation of capital and borrower decisions.
Investor relations and underwriting are organizationally separated to keep approval decisions borrower-first.
- Published conflict-of-interest policy.
Any financial relationship between Intrinsic Finance, Intrinsic Inc., and a participating employer is disclosed publicly.
- Annual third-party audit.
Loan data, accounting, and outcomes audited yearly by a named external firm — full management letter shared with investors.
- Borrower complaint log, published.
Anonymized complaints and resolutions reported quarterly so patterns surface — and get fixed.
"If the DSP Advisory Council says a product, price, or policy is wrong, we change it — or we don't ship it."
Codified in the founding governance charter, alongside an annual public report on every council recommendation and the response.
Council members and counsel will be named publicly as engagements are finalized. Roles described reflect intended structure.
Concept → pilot → scale.
A staged, compliance-first path. We move to the next phase only when the previous one passes its own bar.
- 01Legal & regulatory review
State-by-state lending, usury, and securities mapping with outside counsel. Identify pilot-eligible states.
In progress - 02Product & policy design
Final loan terms, underwriting, hardship policy, disclosures, and DSP Advisory Council charter.
Now - 03Pilot with a small DSP group
Closed pilot with one or two agencies in a pilot-eligible state. Real loans, real outcomes, full reporting.
2026 - 04Investor & fund structure
Formalize the recyclable lending pool, loan-loss reserve, return tiers, and reporting cadence.
2026–27 - 05Technology build
Application, underwriting, servicing, payroll integration, borrower portal, and investor dashboard.
2027 - 06Scale to outside employers & agencies
Expand state-by-state to additional HCBS providers and adjacent essential-workforce employers.
2027+
A pool that keeps giving back.
Mission capital flows in, reaches workers who need it, and returns through responsible repayment — ready to help the next person.
From investor to worker — and back
Seven steps, built for trust.
Each stage is being designed to be fair, transparent, and respectful — for the people borrowing and the people funding.
Investors and mission partners provide capital
Mission-aligned funders contribute to a dedicated lending pool, with clear expectations and risk disclosures defined up front.
Intrinsic Finance manages a responsible lending pool
Capital is stewarded under transparent policies, with a loan-loss reserve and reporting designed to protect both borrowers and funders.
Eligible DSPs apply for small-dollar loans
A simple, respectful application for a real need — a car repair, a rent gap, a utility bill, childcare, emergency travel.
Loans are reviewed with fair, transparent criteria
Review is designed around affordability and dignity — not a credit-score gatekeeper that excludes the workers who need help most.
Funds are disbursed for approved needs
Approved funds reach the borrower quickly so a small emergency doesn't snowball into a missed shift or a lost job.
Repayment is structured responsibly
Affordable, transparent repayment — with payroll-linked options explored where legally appropriate — built to fit a real paycheck.
Repaid funds return to the pool
As loans are repaid, the same capital becomes available again — so one contribution can help worker after worker.
You support people every day. We're being built to support you.
When life creates a financial emergency, Intrinsic Finance is being built to help — with a small, responsible loan and a process that treats you with respect.
For the practical things that keep life moving.
Designed for short-term, employment-stabilizing needs — the expenses that, left unmet, can put a job at risk.
A loan that's on your side.
The whole point is to be different from high-cost emergency borrowing. These protections are core to how the platform is being designed.
- Clear terms, no hidden fees
You'll see the full cost and the full schedule before you agree to anything.
- No predatory rates
This is a mission-based alternative — not a payday product dressed up differently.
- A respectful process
Applying shouldn't feel like being judged. The experience is designed to be private and humane.
- Supportive repayment planning
Repayment built to fit your paycheck, with help if your situation changes.
- Financial education options
Optional coaching and resources to help build a buffer for next time.
Designed to come out of your paycheck — only with your written OK, only at a level you can live on.
Payroll deduction is the default rail because it keeps repayment predictable and rates low. It is never automatic, never permanent, and never tied to your job staying the same.
Payroll deduction, by default
If your employer participates, your repayment comes out of each paycheck automatically — so there's nothing to remember and no late fees to worry about.
ACH from your bank, as the fallback
If your employer doesn't participate, or if you'd rather, repayment comes from the bank account you choose, on the same schedule as your paycheck.
Revocable any time, in writing
You can cancel payroll deduction at any time, for any reason. The loan keeps its same terms — repayment just shifts to ACH.
10% of take-home, hard ceiling
No single payment will ever exceed 10% of your net paycheck. The simulator shows you the number before you sign anything.
Portability if you leave your job
If you change jobs or lose your job, the loan does not become due all at once. It converts to ACH at the same rate and the same monthly amount — nothing is reported as a default just because your job changed.
No retaliation, ever
Your employer cannot make participation a condition of employment, scheduling, or advancement — and we will not share your loan information with them at the individual level.
Repayment rules above will be reflected in a separately signed payroll-deduction authorization, revocable at any time. Final terms are subject to applicable state law.
"I love this work. But one broken alternator almost made me quit the field — payday loans would have buried me. A small, fair loan would have been the difference between staying with the people I support and walking away."
See what a responsible loan could look like.
Move the sliders to estimate cost and per-paycheck repayment under the model being designed. Illustrative only — final terms will depend on licensing, state, and underwriting.
Built differently — on purpose.
How Intrinsic Finance is being designed to differ from common emergency-cash options DSPs encounter today.
| Intrinsic Finance | Payday loan | Earned-wage access | Credit card cash advance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical APR | ≈ 18–28% | ~ 391% | Fees ≈ 90–280% APR equiv. | ~ 25–30%+ |
| Hidden fees | None | Common | Tips & expedite fees | Cash-advance fee |
| Repayment fits paycheck | Lump sum | Same-day deducted | Revolving | |
| Hardship flexibility | Built-in | Limited | ||
| Employer-aligned | Optional | Sometimes | ||
| Mission alignment | Workforce stability | Profit on rollover | Convenience | Profit on interest |
APR and fee ranges are illustrative industry references for context; Intrinsic Finance figures are design targets, not offers.
Capital with a purpose, accountable to outcomes.
Intrinsic Finance is exploring a mission-based model where capital can support DSP workforce stability — measured, transparent, and structured responsibly.
Impact you can see, in a workforce that matters.
Workforce stabilization
Helping DSPs weather emergencies keeps trained workers employed and the people they support cared for.
Measurable outcomes
The model is being designed to report on loans funded, repayment, retention, and crises prevented.
Community reinvestment
Repaid capital recycles, so a single commitment can support many workers over time.
A sustainable but responsible return profile.
We're studying structures that pair social impact with a sustainable, responsibly set financial return — designed so that doing right by borrowers and stewarding capital well are aligned, not in tension.
Capital tier & illustrative impact.
Toggle a tier to see the kind of impact a commitment could support under the model being designed. Figures are illustrative — not an offer or projection of returns.
Community track is being designed around Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF), recoverable grants, and donations — paths open to non-accredited supporters. Catalytic, Concessionary, and Market-rate tracks would be offered only to accredited investors and only through formal documentation.
The mission track: every dollar does more than one job.
Donations and recoverable grants are first-class participants in this model — not an afterthought. They give the lending pool its resilience and let us serve people that pure capital can't reach.
Loan-loss reserve
Donations absorb expected defaults so investor capital stays whole. A $1 donation can backstop several dollars of lending.
APR buy-down
Subsidize rates below the 28% ceiling for the hardest cases — including 0% emergency loans for verified crises.
Recoverable grants
Tracked contributions that can be returned to the donor or redirected once the program reaches sustainability milestones. Donor keeps the optionality.
Operations
Underwriting, compliance, servicing, audit. The unglamorous work that keeps a small-dollar lender honest and solvent.
Optional employer co-investment.
Employers who offer Intrinsic Finance as a workforce benefit are strongly encouraged — but never required — to co-invest in the lending pool serving their own employees, at the Concessionary ≈ 2% target return.
Skin in the game
Co-investment signals to your workforce that the benefit is something you stand behind, not just a logo on a flyer.
Never a condition of approval
Underwriting is organizationally separated from capital relationships. An employee's loan decision is never tied to whether their employer invested.
Capped participation
No single employer can hold more than 20% of the capital serving their own workforce. Diversification protects borrowers and the pool.
Capped equity, not unlimited upside.
Intrinsic Finance is being organized as a Public Benefit Corporation pursuing B Corp certification. Founders and early team will receive a market-or-below salary plus founder equity that is capped at a small multiple of invested capital — so management cannot get rich off borrower interest. Surplus beyond the cap returns to investors at their stated tier rate, funds the loan-loss reserve, or is reinvested in the lending pool.
Steady your workforce by steadying your people.
Financial emergencies are a hidden driver of turnover and missed shifts. From the team already trusted by HCBS providers for compliance and operations, Intrinsic Finance is being designed as a workforce-support benefit agencies can offer their DSPs.
A benefit aimed squarely at retention.
Reduce turnover
Help workers survive the emergencies that so often push them out of the field entirely.
Reduce missed shifts
A car that's running and a utility that's on means a DSP who can show up for their scheduled shift.
Strengthen recruitment
A meaningful, differentiating benefit that signals you invest in your team's stability.
Build trust and loyalty
Support in a hard moment is remembered. It deepens the relationship between worker and agency.
Track stability outcomes
The model is being designed to report on participation, retention, and workforce-stability metrics.
Low lift to offer
Explored as an employer-supported program — including payroll-linked options where legally appropriate.
You set the envelope. We hold the floor.
Employers can tune the plan to their workforce and policies. Borrower-protection floors are locked by Intrinsic Finance standards and applicable law — and cannot be overridden.
Prototype control panel. Plan configuration will be finalized through your participation agreement and is subject to state law and Intrinsic Finance standards.
What turnover is quietly costing you.
Tell us about your workforce. We'll estimate the potential annual savings if an Intrinsic Finance benefit modestly improves DSP retention. Illustrative — actual results depend on many factors.
Small loans. Real stability. Measurable impact.
If it can't be measured, it can't be improved — or trusted. These are the outcomes Intrinsic Finance is being designed to track.
The metrics that define success.
The figures below are illustrative design targets for a future pilot — not current results or guarantees.
Values shown as "—" are intentionally blank: they will be populated only with real, audited results from an actual pilot.
Why recycled capital matters.
Unlike a one-time grant, a responsibly managed lending pool can put the same dollar to work repeatedly. As loans are repaid, capital becomes available for the next worker — multiplying impact while a loan-loss reserve absorbs expected variation.
- Investor capital recycled
One commitment, many cycles of support over time.
- Community impact, compounded
Stability for workers, continuity for the people they support, retention for agencies.
One dollar, three workers
Illustrative only. Actual recycling depends on repayment performance and reserve policy.
Every metric, defined in plain language.
To be trusted, an impact claim has to be specific. Below is how each metric will be defined, how we plan to collect it, and how often we'll publish it.
Methodology will be reviewed with an independent advisor before the pilot. Any changes to definitions will be footnoted in published reports.
What we'll publish — and when.
A mission-based lender should be held to the same scrutiny as the alternatives it's trying to replace. Here's our reporting commitment.
Impact & performance report
Loans funded, average size, repayment rate, default rate, loan-loss reserve usage, and outcomes by metric — all by cohort and state.
Independent audit summary
Third-party review of loan data, accounting, and methodology. Auditor named publicly. Full management letter shared with investors.
Borrower & investor disclosures
Plain-language pricing, full APR, loan-loss history, conflict-of-interest policy, and complaint-resolution log — kept current, not buried.
The standards that make this responsible — not predatory.
A mission-based lender should be held to a higher bar. These are the commitments Intrinsic Finance is being built around.
The numbers behind the principles.
Concrete limits the model is being designed around. Final terms will be subject to licensing and may vary by state.
These are design commitments under development, not current offers. Actual caps will be finalized through legal and regulatory review.
The protections that come with paycheck-linked repayment.
Payroll deduction lowers cost for the borrower — but only when the borrower stays in control of it. These are the rules we'll build the deduction authorization around.
- Separately signed authorization
Payroll deduction is its own document, signed apart from the loan note — required by federal guidance.
- Revocable any time
The borrower can cancel deduction at any time, for any reason — loan terms stay the same; repayment shifts to ACH.
- 10% of net paycheck floor
No single deduction may exceed 10% of net pay. State wage-deduction caps always apply on top.
- Portability on separation
If employment ends, the loan does not accelerate. It converts to ACH at the same rate and amount.
- No employment consequence
Participation, or the choice to revoke, cannot affect employment, scheduling, or advancement.
- Individual privacy from employer
The employer receives only the deduction file and aggregate participation — never loan balance, status, or borrower-level data.
Affordable repayment
Repayment is designed to fit a real paycheck, never to set up failure or rollovers.
Transparent terms
The full cost, schedule, and conditions are disclosed in plain language before you commit.
No hidden fees
No surprise charges buried in fine print. What you're told is what you owe.
No debt traps
The model is structured to help borrowers exit the emergency, not to keep them borrowing.
Borrower dignity
A respectful, private, judgment-free experience from application to payoff.
Fair review process
Decisions based on affordability and fairness, designed to include workers traditional credit overlooks.
Compliance with applicable law
We intend to operate within the lending laws of each jurisdiction we serve.
Privacy & data protection
Borrower data is treated as sensitive and protected with strong security and clear policies.
Clear investor risk disclosures
Funders receive honest, complete disclosures — no guarantees, no glossing over risk.
A mission-based alternative to high-cost emergency borrowing — held to the standards we'd want for ourselves.
Clear answers, carefully given.
We're early, and we'd rather be precise than overpromise. Here's where things stand.
No. Intrinsic Finance is being designed as a mission-based alternative to high-cost emergency borrowing. The model centers affordable repayment, transparent terms, and no debt traps — the opposite of the payday model.
The platform is intended to serve Direct Support Professionals and the human-services workforce. Specific eligibility standards are still being designed and will be subject to applicable licensing and regulatory approval, and may vary by state.
The model is being built for short-term, employment-stabilizing needs — for example car repairs, a rent gap or housing deposit, utilities, childcare, or emergency travel. Final approved uses will be defined as the program is finalized.
The focus is small-dollar loans sized to the emergency at hand. Exact amounts, rates, and terms are still in design and will depend on applicable law in each state and on final program structure.
Repayment is intended to be affordable and transparent. We're exploring options including payroll-linked repayment and ACH, where legally appropriate. The specifics will be finalized subject to regulatory review.
Yes — we're designing the model to be offered as an employer-supported workforce-stability benefit, including payroll-linked options where legally appropriate. Structure and availability may vary by employer and state.
We're exploring a mission-based investment model. Any future participation would be offered only through formal documentation, only where lawful, and subject to legal, securities, lending, and regulatory review.
No. Nothing on this site guarantees any return. We're studying sustainable, responsibly set return structures, but all investing involves risk, and any returns would be subject to the terms of a future, formally documented offering.
Not yet. Intrinsic Finance is a responsible lending model under development. It is not currently making loans or accepting applications. Joining the interest list helps us gauge demand and keep you updated.
Consumer lending is heavily regulated. Depending on structure and states served, this may involve lending licenses, usury and rate-cap compliance, consumer-protection and disclosure requirements, and securities review for any investor capital. We're approaching this compliance-first and intend to operate only where properly authorized.
Be part of building something better.
Tell us who you are and we'll keep you updated as the model develops. Joining creates no obligation — and isn't a loan application.
By joining you agree to be contacted about Intrinsic Finance. We won't share your information or sell it to third parties. See our Privacy Policy.
Let's talk.
Whether you're a DSP curious about the program, an agency exploring a benefit, or a mission investor, we'd value the conversation.
For journalists, researchers, and policy partners.
Background on Intrinsic Finance, the workforce we serve, and the responsible-lending standards we're being built around. Quote freely with attribution.
Intrinsic Finance is a mission-based micro-lending platform being built to give Direct Support Professionals a responsible alternative to high-cost emergency borrowing.
Direct Support Professionals — the workers who support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — are essential, underpaid, and often one car repair away from leaving the field. Intrinsic Finance is an affiliate of Intrinsic Inc. building a responsibly structured small-dollar loan program, capped APR, no fees, payroll-aware repayment, and a recyclable lending pool funded by mission-aligned investors. The goal: stabilize the workforce, protect continuity of care, and prove that ethical lending at this scale is viable.
At a glance.
Logos & usage.
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For dark backgrounds.
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Ink #103D47 · Gold #CE9A3C · Sage #2B8090 · Paper #F6EEDB
Downloadable asset bundle (SVG, PNG, brand PDF) will be linked here ahead of launch.
For interviews & background.
The DSP workforce crisis
Why turnover in I/DD direct support is a national continuity-of-care issue, not just an HR problem.
Responsible small-dollar lending
How APR caps, no-fee structures, payroll-linked repayment, and loan-loss reserves can replace payday alternatives.
Mission-aligned capital
Recycled lending pools, concessionary returns, and what catalytic capital can unlock for workforce stability.
Media inquiries
For interviews, quotes, or background calls, please reach out and we'll respond within two business days.
Intrinsic Finance is a mission-based micro-lending platform under development, designed to provide responsible small-dollar loans to Direct Support Professionals and the broader human-services workforce. An affiliate of Intrinsic Inc., the platform is being built around capped APRs, no fees, payroll-aware repayment, and recyclable mission capital. Intrinsic Finance is not currently lending and is subject to applicable licensing and regulatory approval.
Press contact is a placeholder for this prototype.