Kiplinger’s Personal Finance – Financial Lessons from Immigrants: Work Your Way Up

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.

 

Maryland Gazette – Small Retailers Feeling the Redevelopment Squeeze

Some five years ago, Amanda Sanchez moved her restaurant/bar from Silver Spring to Wheaton because her rent was rising and access problems arose from a redevelopment project.

Now the owner of Riverside Lounge is going through Act II of the same squeeze play.

The area around Sanchez’s relocated business in downtown Wheaton is undergoing changes that include more mixed-use development with new offices, housing and retail.

“There is not much parking for my customers,” Sanchez said. “It’s a very slow economy. I might have to sell because of the new offices and houses causing rents to increase.”

To read the full article, which references LEDC’s ongoing work with the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, click here.