“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>St. Louis
has plenty of
financial underdogs. Unbanked families. Business owners with no
access to capital. Unemployed teenagers.
“font-family: Verdana;”>On Oct. 13, many of them gathered to share how they made a place for
themselves in the financial
system and are achieving their goals.
The St. Louis Microfinance
Conference, held at University of Missouri–St.
Louis, brought together
bankers, community advocates, business owners and experts to
explore various microfinance opportunities in the
region and the world. In
addition, 13 individuals competed for three $1,000 grants to help
push forward their businesses or projects.
One of these projects was the
“Tiny Hands Savings Program,” where children ages 5 to 18 save $5 a
month for 10 months. The Women’s Helping Hands Bank then matches
those savings.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>In 2008, nine women and one man from the Tower Grove Southeast neighborhood founded and created the bank after watching so many of their neighbors fall prey to payday loans and rental scams. They started with $10,000, provided by Incarnate Word and the United Way.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>For the past three years, they have been able to recycle the same money through the community to make loans for everything from appliances and college tuition to car repairs and funerals. The Tiny Hands project aims to teach both children and parents how to save. “We are learning to be – what’s the new word we learned? – ‘sustainable,’” said Bobbie Sykes, one of the bank’s founders. “It’s getting hard for the disabled and the elderly to keep this up. We need the young generation to carry on the torch.” The North Grand Neighborhood Services in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood has a similar mission, “to promote the dignity of the low-income individuals.” By developing affordable housing opportunities, employment and training opportunities for youth, they are able to achieve this mission. “The North Grand Neighborhood Services was created to make this look like a neighborhood and not a war zone,” said David Carroll, executive director of NGNS.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The JeffVanderLou neighborhood has the third-highest violent crime rate in St. Louis city. As the NGNS began building homes, Carroll said many teens, who were hard hit by the economic decline, found work on the construction sites. But they wanted more employment opportunities, he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>After a community meeting, the teens decided that they wanted to start a baking company, and Angel Baked Cookies was born. This group was vying for money to make printed brochures to promote their company.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Representatives from Justine PETERSEN, International Institute of St. Louis, the Center for Acceleration of African American Business (CAAAB) and others shared their experiences starting and sustaining micro-enterprise programs.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“The idea of the center is that the growth and development of African-American businesses can help us to solve the problems of families, which then can help us to solve the problems of cities, which then can help us to solve the problems of states,” said Eddie Davis, president and executive director of CAAAB.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The center is housed at Justine PETERSEN, a nonprofit that helps low- and moderate-income families buy homes and build financial assets for the long term. They are also a micro-lender for the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Carroll said that many people in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood go to Justine PETERSEN to learn how to build their credit so that they can buy one of the NGNS’ affordable homes.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The conference was sponsored by Incarnate Word Foundation, Citi Community Development, Public Policy Research Center and Nonprofit Management and Leadership at UMSL.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The $25 registration fee was used to create the first Gateway to Opportunities Micro-Investment Grants. The three recipients were:
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier;”> Oman Sapir, a beekeeper who will create beehives on the roof of the International Institute for a honey-making business; North Grand Neighborhood Services; and the Center for the Acceleration of African-American Business.
