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How a Cancer Diagnosis Gave Ethel Brooks the Strength to Start Her Own Business
For many people, a cancer diagnosis can derail them. For Ethel Brooks, it ignited her. It was January 2017 when Ethel learned that she had breast cancer. Her mind instantly concocted the worst-case scenario, and her first thought was about what she was going to leave behind for her three daughters and seven grandchildren if…
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How McAuley Residence and The Genesis Fund are Redefining (and Rolling Out) Recovery Centers Across Maine
For over 30 years, McAuley Residence has been a safe place for women in need in Portland, Maine. When the opioid crisis hit 13 years ago, however, the residence — a longstanding project of The Sisters of Mercy — needed to rethink its services. “We were seeing a significant need for women with children who…
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Meet Montina Young, The CDFI (and YouTube) Enthusiast Helping Other Entrepreneurs Succeed
At CNote, we consider ourselves to be the CDFI industry’s biggest cheerleader. Then we met Montina Young. When Montina was just 18 months old, her mother abandoned her. She was raised by an aunt, but she ended up homeless when she was 16 years old. Still, Montina managed to get her GED, and she hasn’t…
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Meet Dr. Alexia McClerkin, The Full-Time Student, Mom, and Entrepreneur Behind The Beauty and Wellness Doc
From the time that Dr. Alexia McClerkin broke her ankle in high school, she knew she wanted to become a doctor. Although Alexia didn’t end up pursuing a career as an orthopedic surgeon as she’d originally intended when she matriculated at Michigan State, she instead chose to study kinesiology so that she could work with…
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Meet Tanesha Sims-Summers, The Poppin-With-A-Purpose Entrepreneur Behind Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co.
Tanesha Sims-Summers has been an entrepreneur since she was a little girl when she would weave her way through the gridlocked traffic waiting to get into Birmingham’s Legion Field for the Alabama-Auburn football games, selling homemade popsicles for 50 cents as she went from car to car. Tanesha went on to graduate high school, and…
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How Two Disabled Veterans Turned Their Log Home Living Dreams Into A Lakeside Resort Reality – Lakewood Lodge
When Aimee and Preston Osborne met and married in Fort Hood, Texas in 2001, their dream was to one day own a lake-side resort, an RV park, or something that would take them back to their rural roots. Aimee grew up in the Northwoods of Minnesota, Preston was born and raised in Ashe County, North…
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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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