Name:  Silvia

Age:     29 Years

Dream: Open Quilt-Making Businesss in Mexico

Silvia is married with a five-year old son, who is anxiously awaiting his first day of school in September.Silvia believes the most important gift she can give to her son is a good education so he can pursue a career he enjoys. As a result, Silvia started selling cosmetics and facial creams about a year ago to supplement her income from working in a local supermarket full time. Due to the success of her business, Silvia now focuses mostly on her small business, and works at the super market part-time to supplement her cosmetics business. Silvia now sells her products at the supermarket as well on the streets in her neighborhood.

Silvia would like to take out another loan to expand cosmetic products business to include bedside quilts as she notices demand from her customers yet little supply by local businesses.

Silvia is a Grameen America supporter because the women of her group were some of her first friends in the United States. They helped her find a job initially and have encouraged her to pursue new entrepreneurial ventures. Silvia explains that Grameen America revolves around trust, and her peers are precisely the ones she turns to for the support to make ends meet.

We want to congratulate Silvia on the amazing success that she has had. We are proud to have her as a Grameen America borrower!

                         
Support from her Grameen America group turned Nancy’s creative skills into a thriving business.



STORY: Nancy was an aspiring artist with nowhere to turn for the capital she needed for materials. She always believed that her passion for art could one-day generate income she needed to help support her family. Encouragement from her Grameen America group gave Nancy the courage to start an at-home artist studio; a microloan gave her the capital to invest in her new enterprise. Nancy produces aluminum embossed prints, paints, and frames these original pieces of art. Her repeat clients include friends, family, local restaurants and churches; now she is looking to local craft and art shops as outlets. Nancy sees a long-term relationship with Grameen America, returning for larger loans, building stronger credit and a dream of starting her second business in catering.

Sabina was born to be an entrepreneur. After emigrating from Mexico in 1993, Sabina began working full-time in a factory to support herself and her family. To make ends meet, she started selling flowers on the street. Sabina’s friend told her about Grameen America two years ago, and she immediately joined a group with some of her closest friends. Since then she has been a very dedicated borrower. Sabina put her first loan of $1,500 towards plants and flowers to grow her small inventory. Four loans later, Sabina had saved enough money to rent out her own storefront in Queens!

Sabina recently took out her 5th loan for $3,500 which she used to purchase a large refrigerator for her flowers. Because the fridge was a bit more expensive than the loan she was eligible for, she used her money from her savings—set up by Grameen America—to supplement the loan for the purchase of the fridge. With her official storefront and refrigerator, Sabina now supplies flowers for weddings, birthdays, and Quinceañeras.

Sabina recognizes that to grow her business even larger, she will need to expand past her own community in Queens. Sabina’s dream is to open a second flower shop in Westchester, NY where she knows there is a strong demand and limited supply of quality flowers. Opportunity is calling her name!

Sabina is incredibly proud of her business, as she says, “in this life, anything is possible with hard work and perseverance”.

Lucia is the mother of three and worked as a full-time babysitter for over ten years. Eight years ago she opened up a side business selling Avon beauty products. She started selling Avon products because they are cheap to buy wholesale and local demand is high. Lucia stocks up on beauty products strategically so that she doesn’t have to buy new products for three weeks. She knows her client base well and this system of getting products works perfectly to fit demand in her community. Lucia knows the power of savings and how important it is to keep money aside for her family.

Since her first loan, Lucia has expanded her inventory to include facial creams, perfume, make up, and most recently shoes. With her next loan, she plans to once again increase her inventory of beauty products and purchase clothing fabrics for dresses. Lucia’s dream is to open a clothing store to sell handmade dresses with a space for babysitting in the back—two businesses in one! Lucia wants all women to feel beautiful when they go to a party, and at her store, ladies can drop off their children, and walk out ready for a night they will not forget!

Alecia was recently invited by a couple of her closet peers to join their Grameen America group. Alecia runs a small business selling Jaffra cosmetic products on the local streets. When Alecia is not running her business she cares for her ten grandchildren, for whom she babysits every day. Alecia would like to take out a loan to buy more inventory to grow the business. She currently sells to about sixty clients a month and with the loan, looks to reach 100 clients.

Alecia has never opened a bank account before, despite her repeat attempts year after year. She also does not own any credit cards because the potential fees were too daunting. Alecia explained that she knew how important it is to have a credit history, but due to high fees, she has never had the opportunity to build hers. While Alecia was not currently saving any money before joining Grameen America, she is now learning the importance of saving and is looking forward to the day when she can finally take her first vacation with the money. After attending her first group meeting, Alecia says she can’t believe how successful the businesses of her fellow group members have become and says she’s going to tell everyone she knows about Grameen!

A few weeks ago, as many NYC residence battened down the hatches in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, GA Project Manager, Nicole Meyers, spent two days at the main GA branch in Queens along with a professional photographer. The purpose of the trip was to talk to a few borrowers, sit in on some of the meetings and try to capture, in pictures and words, how the branches run.

The atmosphere of the Queens branch was hectic due to the heavy traffic of borrowers who had brought their children with them as they waited for new loans. One by one, borrowers would meet with loan officers, receive loans and hand over their blue ledgers so their balance could be updated. Despite the crowded space, the GA Credit Officers were very excited because it had been their most successful week to date.


One GA borrower who was interviewed had recently joined the program and talked about the importance of credit history and savings which she now had for the first time. Her fear of default fees and high interest rates prevented her from having a bank account or credit card but her loan from GA had given her the financial flexibility to start a business.

Nicole had hoped to meet a borrower who lived nearby so that she might ask to see her business. She lucked out in meeting Lucia, who ran a cosmetics business out of her basement. The next day Nicole was able to catch a small meeting in Lucia's house and witnessed first hand how borrowers help each other. Even though the other three members of her group also sold cosmetics, they worked together to find profitable parts of the neighborhood where each would have success.

There was also a new member of the group at the meeting, who was invited in when a former member left. Now a full group, the women seemed to share a bond both in business and in their personal lives, as each worked to send money back to their families in Mexico in the hope of improving their lives and one day bringing them to the US.

Lucia told Nicole that she would ideally like to set up an eveningcare center for children and salon store, so that mothers could come and get dressed for a night out while dropping off their children all in one spot. This is a great example of how GA borrowers create and adjust their businesses based on the needs of their community.

We wish Lucia and all the members of her group success and look forward to updating you with more news and pictures from the branch soon!