Category: Borrower Stories
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How Elevation Community Land Trust is Taking Affordable Housing to New Heights across Colorado
Stefka Czarnecki Fanchi has always been a big believer in homeownership. Both of her parents were teachers; however, her dad “built” every house Stefka’s family ever lived in, whether that meant physically building the structure or making improvements to what was already built. According to Stefka, she has lots of childhood memories as a kid…
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Meet Tawnya Dee Sanford, The Formerly Homeless, Big-Hearted Entrepreneur Behind The Little Engine Learning Center
If you ask Tawnya Dee Sanford what her secret is to running a successful business, she’ll tell you that she’s willing to give people a chance. After all, she wouldn’t be where she is today — as a person and as an entrepreneur — if it weren’t for the chances that people gave to her.…
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How A CDFI is Helping Knox County Homeless Coalition Address Affordable Housing in Midcoast Maine
When Steph Primm left the for-profit world and moved to Maine, she wanted to do something more meaningful than help other people make money. Although she’d grown up in the New York metro area going to summer camp in Maine, it wasn’t until she moved to “The Pine Tree State” after a successful career in…
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Meet Cheri Witt-Brown, the ‘Accidental Entrepreneur’ Leading a Habitat for Humanity Affiliate to New Heights
For as long as Cheri Witt-Brown can remember, she’s known her way around a residential construction site. Her father owned a home-building and real estate company, and Cheri landed her first construction job — albeit picking up nails — when she was just three years old. She was paid a penny per nail for her…
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How a Business Resiliency Course Helped Michea Rahman, an Entrepreneurial Speech Pathologist, Take Her Business to New Heights
Since Michea Rahman was a child, she always knew that she wanted to one day work with children. She idolized teachers, adored Sesame Street, and, unsurprisingly, grew up to become a middle school arts educator in her hometown of Houston, Texas. One day, a fellow teacher asked Michea if she’d be willing to work with…
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Meet Julia Sleeper-Whiting, Whose Undergraduate Volunteerism Became a Nonprofit Dedicated to Youth Empowerment
When Julia Sleeper-Whiting moved to Lewiston, Maine to attend Bates College, she never could have imagined that she’d be a small business owner in the community more than 15 years later — and not as a veterinarian, which she originally planned to become as a first-year undergraduate student. Julia intended to specialize in animal care,…
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Meet Felicia Parks, A Franchisee Encouraging Her Employees To Become Entrepreneurs
Felicia Parks was always interested in business; however, it wasn’t until her two sons were grown adults before she decided to try her hand at it. In fact, her sons were the inspiration that propelled her to open her own franchise. After her youngest son graduated high school, he launched his own janitorial service. Unfortunately,…
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How Gloria Dickerson is Inspiring the Mississippi Delta Community To Make Their Dreams a Reality
Gloria Dickerson wants to change the way people think. It’s no easy task, particularly when it comes to encouraging low-income communities to dream bigger than the world they know. However, Gloria Dickerson is no stranger to adversity. Gloria was born into an impoverished family of sharecroppers in Drew, Mississippi. She was one of 13 children,…
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How Vanessa Silva is Recreating Her Recipe For Success During a Global Pandemic
Vanessa Silva has always been comfortable in the kitchen. As an introverted child growing up in Brazil, food was how she preferred to communicate. Cooking became Vanessa’s love language, and by the time she was 10 years old, she was quite fluent in that love language, preparing special dishes for her parents’ dinner guests and…
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Meet Dr. Nola Veazie, the Entrepreneuring Veteran Who’s Growing Her Business around Mental Health and Addiction
Nola Veazie grew up in Panama with the belief that she could do anything she set her mind to. Nola’s mother, who raised her children on her own, encouraged all of her children to dream big; however, when Nola was 16, she realized that the opportunities she wanted for herself didn’t exist in her home…