The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched its new Center for Faith, a national initiative to strengthen partnerships with faith-based organizations by expanding their access to capital, counseling, federal contracting, and now, disaster relief assistance. This move marks a significant policy shift as the agency also eliminates a prior regulation—previously upheld under the Biden Administration—that barred religious organizations from receiving SBA disaster loans.
This reversal ends a rule that excluded any group “principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion” from accessing disaster aid under the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The change follows a Supreme Court ruling that deemed such exclusions unconstitutional.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler described the launch as part of the agency’s commitment to ending federal discrimination against people of faith. “We are proud to uphold the principles of religious freedom that our nation was founded on,” she said, noting that the Center for Faith aims to connect faith-based communities with SBA resources and bring more small businesses into the agency’s ecosystem.
Housed within the SBA’s Office of Economic Development and established under Executive Order 14205, the Center for Faith will build long-term relationships with faith-driven organizations. It aims to improve disaster response, expand access to capital, and foster new opportunities through education and outreach.
With this initiative, the SBA acknowledges the longstanding contributions of faith-based organizations and affirms their eligibility for the same resources available to other American small businesses and nonprofits.