October 25, 2012
Tawanna Sellers is a food service employee at a Washington, DC high school. But she’d like to be out here, among the ranks of food truck owners.
The reason Tawanna isn’t is because she got a bad credit report and can’t get a loan for her business. “There was a lot of stuff on there – some of it didn’t belong to me,” Sellers said. “And some were a lot of mistakes.”
She’s not alone – a recent study found that 79 percent of all credit reports have some type of error.
August 22, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2012
Contact: Julian Teixeira, Ash Kosiewicz
(202) 776-1812, (202) 425-1303
jteixeira@nclr.org, akosiewicz@ledcmetro.org
Program to enhance access to financial knowledge and vital banking services for Latinos
Washington, D.C.—In order to manage their finances successfully, families need not only access to banking services but the information and education to understand them. Latinos are one of the most un- and underbanked communities in the nation, often experiencing barriers to a range of financial services—from something as basic as opening a checking account to understanding how to apply for a home mortgage. To help bridge this gap, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) are joining together to launch the Effective Money Management program to provide one-on-one financial coaching and information about banking products to qualified low- and moderate-income individuals in the Washington, D.C. area.
“Latino families have been disproportionately affected by the economic downturn, which has depleted their savings and knocked them out of the banking system,” said Lot Diaz, Vice President of Housing and Community Development at NCLR. “One of the first steps toward recovery is to become financially stable by reducing debt levels and building a cash reserve. However, many in our community can’t do this because it requires not only financial tools but education and guidance. We created the Effective Money Management program to help Hispanic families access the proper tools to promote financial decisions that not only build wealth but improve their lives overall.”
Participants in the Effective Money Management program will enroll in a five-week course and meet one-on-one with financial coaches provided through LEDC. The course and coaching will focus on increasing knowledge and developing skills in budgeting, banking services, establishing and maintaining credit, savings, insurance, and protecting one’s assets. Counselors will work with participants to assess their current financial situations, help tailor a financial action plan to both short- and long-term financial goals, and track progress over a 12-month period.
“We are very excited to partner with NCLR on the Effective Money Management program,” said Manny Hidalgo, LEDC Executive Director. “Participants in our programs will greatly benefit from this initiative given that many lack access to basic banking services and the knowledge of how to build emergency savings. We believe that the program is an important step in helping Washington, D.C.–area Latino families better manage their money, a critical step on the road to achieving financial independence.”
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July 16, 2012
As a 14-year-old in El Salvador during its brutal civil war, José Wilfredo Flores faced a choice: Join the guerrillas or join the army.
“The guerrillas would come to our house,” says Flores. “We had to hide. You couldn’t say no because then they would think you were on the army’s side and shoot you. A few hours later, the army guys would come and say, ‘We want food. We want to take you.’ If you said no, they’d think you were with the guerrillas.”
In 1984, Flores’s mother made her own painful choice. She paid $1,400 to a smuggler, or coyote, to help guide her son to Washington, D.C., where his uncle and his 18-year-old brother lived.
To read the full article referencing LEDC’s work with immigrants who want to start small businesses, click here.
April 11, 2012
Alejandro Carrasco is approaching 25 years as host of “Calentando la Manana,” the Spanish-language morning news and talk radio show he broadcasts each weekday to thousands of area listeners.
He explained the popularity of his show and Spanish-language radio in general as a cultural circumstance.
“There’s the joke about grandpa going [to] the U.S., trying to fit his old radio in his luggage. The grandson sees it, says ‘What are you doing? They have smaller radios.’ The grandpa says, ‘Well, this one speaks Spanish,’” Carrasco said. “We come from an audio culture. There is a radio culture we bring with us and people just remain loyal to it.”
To read the full article that talks about LEDC’s radio show program “Consejos Financieros” on Radio America, click here.
November 1, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2011
Contact: Susana Flores, CASA de Maryland
(240) 706-2624; sflores@casamd.org
http://www.casademaryland.org
David Roskin, Citi Community Development
(212) 559-4767; david.roskin@citi.com
http://www.citicommunitydevelopment.org
CASA de Maryland and Citi Lead Pilot Initiative to Make Naturalization Costs More Manageable While Building Credit and Seeding Savings Accounts
Langley Park, MD (November 1, 2011) – Today, Citi Community Development and CASA de Maryland (CASA) launched an innovative microloan program for legal permanent residents (LPRs) seeking to become naturalized citizens. CASA will collaborate with two community development financial institutions (CDFI’s) — the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and the Ethiopian Community Development Council Enterprise Development Group (EDG) — to launch and test the innovative citizenship microloan program that will lower the financial barriers to naturalization while simultaneously building an individual’s credit and financial literacy.
The loan program is the latest addition to a set of naturalization services available through Citizenship Maryland, a wrap-around comprehensive effort led by CASA and participated in by partner AmeriCorps volunteer host organizations that seek to support the hundreds of thousands of eligible legal permanent residents in Maryland become citizens.
“Our state and our nation have a great deal to gain by embracing new Americans and supporting their efforts to contribute to our society and economy,” said Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, whose parents immigrated to America to start new lives and achieve their dreams. “Decreasing the financial burden for immigrants who wish to become naturalized citizens will help them improve their families’ lives and enrich their communities. It is exciting that this innovative program is being piloted right here in Maryland.”
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November 1, 2011
Ernestina Pacas completed her citizenship application last week, 17 years after she moved to the United States from El Salvador.
This week she is awaiting approval of a loan for $680, which she plans to use to pay the application fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Pacas, 42, is among the first to apply for a new microloan designed to help legal permanent residents cover their naturalization costs.
To read more about LEDC’s participation in CASA de Maryland’s new pilot microloan initiative, click here.
September 30, 2011
Yesterday, LEDC launched a new program that will provide financial coaching and education, along with access to a secured credit card, to DC-area micro-entrepreneurs whose credit profiles need strengthening to qualify for business financing.
The program is part of the Asset Building Through Credit pilot program, a research effort by the Aspen Institute that will study a multi-dimensional approach for building credit and financial opportunities for aspiring low-income entrepreneurs in five markets nationwide. The overall study is funded by a $750,000 grant from the Citi Foundation.
To watch the full Univision video clip in Spanish that talks about LEDC’s new role in helping connect entrepreneurs with the secured credit card, click here.
September 29, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2011
Contact: Ash Kosiewicz, LEDC Communications and Advocacy Director
202-425-1303; akosiewicz@ledcmetro.org
Elaine Edgcomb, FIELD Director, The Aspen Institute
732-452-0143; elaine.edgcomb@aspeninstitute.org
David Roskin, Public Affairs, Citi
212-559-4767; david.roskin@citi.com
Pilot Initiative is Part of Multi-Market Study of the Use of Community Based Intermediaries to Help Low-Income Entrepreneurs Build Credit Through Financial Coaching and Secured Credit Cards
WASHINGTON –– The Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) announced today the launch of a new program that will provide financial coaching and education, along with access to a secured credit card, to DC-area micro-entrepreneurs whose credit profiles need strengthening to qualify for business financing. The program is part of the Asset Building Through Credit pilot program, a research effort by the Aspen Institute that will study a multi-dimensional approach for building credit and financial opportunities for aspiring low-income entrepreneurs in five markets nationwide.
The overall study is funded by a $750,000 grant from the Citi Foundation to the Aspen Institute’s FIELD (Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination) program, which is making grants to five nonprofit microenterprise organizations including LEDC to implement the credit-building pilot program. In addition to providing training, technical assistance and a series of ongoing peer learning activities to support the pilot, FIELD will analyze the execution and outcomes of the program in each of the five markets to assess whether financial education and coaching combined with an innovative secured credit card platform can increase credit scores and expand the small businesses of more than 600 low-income entrepreneurs. FIELD’s evaluation of the program will determine both the effectiveness and scalability of the approach.
“Our strengths in financial coaching and outreach will be complemented by the capacity to offer a secured credit card,” said LEDC Executive Director Manny Hidalgo. “Combining education with access to financial tools is an effective approach to expanding financial inclusion and achieving financial independence. That’s a goal we share with the Aspen Institute and Citi, and we are pleased to have been selected to implement this program in the DC area.”
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October 1, 2010
If you want a glimpse into the Washington region’s foreclosure landscape this weekend, look no further than tomorrow’s annual Montgomery County Housing Fair.
The fair, a joint effort among the County and community organizations, banks, and nonprofits like the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), will provide information to county residents on foreclosure prevention, renters’ rights, financial education, and job readiness.
As lenders increase the number of home repossessions and scam artists continue to prey upon the vulnerable, the foreclosure crisis has recently taken twists and turns that raise the stakes for effective action in the region. The DC Office of the Attorney General announced on September 21st a Superior Court enforcement action against an individual charged with violating consumer protection law after scamming homeowners in the District. A new mediation law in Maryland designed to slow foreclosures has seen little traction. In the last two weeks, loan servicers Ally Financial and JP Morgan announced they were halting foreclosures in numerous states amid allegations that foreclosures were advanced through the judicial process with improperly signed court documents.
August 6, 2010
2010 National Worker Cooperative Conference
Have you ever wondered what aspiring small business owners could do if they worked together instead of deciding to go it alone? How could the worker cooperative – a business model where workers control the management, governance and ownership of their places of work – address some of the most pressing challenges facing our struggling economy?
Starting today, staff from the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) will participate in the 2010 National Worker Cooperative Conference, a three-day gathering in San Francisco, CA designed to explore how worker cooperatives strengthen communities as well as address social and economic problems including unemployment and unsustainable business practices that hurt the environment.
Yvette Zaragoza, LEDC’s Small Business Regional Training and Outreach manager, will share the lessons thus far learned from LEDC’s ongoing work with Semillitas, the Washington region’s first worker-owned daycare cooperative. Semillitas, or “Little Seeds” in English, is made up of seven founding members – all Latina women – and was recently featured on PBS in a special report on Latina entrepreneurs. (more…)
