Program Coverage on Valley Public Radio

Check out Terry Phillips' segment "Micro-Lending & Philanthropy" - I had the opportunity to speak on micro-lending in the valley along with Debbie Raven & Dan Desantis.

You can download the mp3 at the link below:
http://vpubradio.vo.llnwd.net/o1/podcasts/QoL/20101221.mp3

Time Flies - Loans Distributed in June

It's funny how time flies... and how launching a program affords you very little of it for "blogging". Our first batch of micro-loans were distributed to four entrepreneurs from the communities of Arvin and Lamont, CA back in June. So far, payments have gone smoothly and we've begun to watch the proverbial ball roll. On a grander scale, micro-enterprise seems to have a good deal of momentum in California. Stay tuned...

Loans Will be Distributed Soon

So we've hit a lot of bumps along the road, and been delayed by a number of unforeseen circumstances, but we're so close to launching this program! We are doing a peer approval process whereby all the members of our lending group must approve each other's loans before they are sent to the committee for final approval, and we have 50% of our group approved. Hopefully loans will be distributed in the next 2-3 weeks. Right now, current businesses include:

A) Day-care
B) Welding company
C) Food prep
D) Jewelry sales

I love the diversity! I'll let the digital realm know once we take off... Check out www.doloreshuerta.org in the meantime, as we have some big changes on the web coming soon.

First Training A Success

On Tuesday February 16, four latina entrepreneurs attended the first small business training session for the DHF micro-lending program. Thanks is due to the Lamont and Weedpatch Family Resource Center for providing us with a place to hold the class, and Ross Griego who did an excellent job getting these women excited about formalizing their businesses. Their initial hesitation quickly turned to excitement as Ross explained the group lending process, and we're eager to meet with them and additional community members this coming Friday.

In other news, Kern Central Credit Union has become Community Trust Credit Union (CTCU - A division of Self-Help Credit Union) which will only make our partnership stronger as CTCU is one of the largest advocates to stop predatory lending in the US. Many thanks to Carl Trejo, Esmeralda Fuentes, Roger Flores and Patti Robertson-Panduro for working with us through this transition to ensure we are able to provide these essential financial programs to low income entrepreneurs in Kern County.

Expect more frequent updates now that the program has launched.

Program Dates Announced!

Today at 6:30 pm in the David Head Center, I will be giving a presentation to potential applicants of the micro-lending program. We will also be announcing two trainings on Feb 16 and Feb 19. Persons interested in receiving a loan will attend both these sessions. We hope to have our first group of borrowers selected by March 1! Stay tuned... hopefully I'll have some pictures from the sessions to post and a list of small businesses interested in participating in the next few days.

Announcing "Empresarios Comunitarios"

We're pleased to be announcing the "Empresarios Comunitarios" micro-lending program and the FISH program to the community on February 10th at the David Head Center in Lamont. If you're interested in attending, please e-mail me for information.

Join the Five Campaign

To join the Five Campaign follow these steps:

1. Click on this link Lend Central Valley
2. Fill out the information, entering $5 as the donation amount
3. Select "Micro-Lending" as the donation type
4. Tell 5 of your friends to join the cause
5. Become a follower of this blog, and watch the cause grow!

The Dolores Huerta Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and all of your contributions are tax deductible. Visit www.doloreshuerta.org for our Federal Tax ID number.