| Affiliate: | California |
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| Location: | Los Angeles, California, United States of America |
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| Created: | 5/24/2009 |
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| Last Update: | 5/24/2009 |
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Project Goal: Provide impoverished farm-workers with low interest small business expansion loans and financial literacy classes
Root Cause: Poverty in Latin American countries is linked to, among other things, US foreign policy and trade agreements like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Impoverished individuals in Latin America and specifically Mexico who find themselves in dire situations, often immigrate (both legally and illegally) to the United States chasing myths of a better life. Unfortunately, once in the United States, many immigrants find themselves in equally difficult circumstances with a higher cost of living despite higher wages, often having to work long hours and multiple jobs in order to provide for themselves and their families. Poverty is a trapping force, and as such, immigrant families find themselves stuck in impoverished conditions generations after having immigrated with limited access to resources and education. As impoverished individuals have bad or no credit, pursuing entrepreneurial ideas is increasingly difficult. The problem is thus four fold:
•People are experiencing hunger
Project Plan: LMU's Center for Service and ACtion (CSA) is partnering with the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF) to start a comprehensive micro-lending program in California's Central Valley (Kern County). The proposed project provides impoverished farm-workers with low interest small business expansion loans and financial literacy classes. Modeled after the Nobel Prize winning Grameen Bank, this program promotes cooperation by placing borrowers in "lending groups". DHF's success with community organizing will facilitate generating economic and social capital.
The proposed pilot project aims to demonstrate the viability of micro-credit in a rural US economy. The long term goal is to develop a self-sustaining micro-credit program that services the Central Valley while concurrently offering hands on experience to college students and education to borrowers, lenders, and support staff. |
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