ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – This Juneteenth, a U.S. senator for New Mexico invested a long time discovering a brand-new organization devoted to assisting Black and Indigenous business owners.
One Hope Financial Institution held a “Lunch and Learn” occasion. The occasion provided individuals an opportunity to understand what they are everything about, and to get other individuals bought the cause.
“Our thing is, like, how do you bring equity and make it equitable?” said Alex Horton with One Hope Financial Institution.
It’s that concept that caused the production of One Hope Financial Institution. It offers loans to minority business owners, however it’s not a bank.
“A bank would say, ‘You guys are nuts.’ But that’s what we want to be, one of the nuts and then allow you to go to a bank two, three years from now and get a quarter of a million,” said Charles Ashley III with One Hope Financial Institution.
It’s a fund targeted at assisting brand-new business owners who might otherwise fight with getting a loan to get off the ground.
“We’ve been running loans at 5% interest, we hold it for 10 years. So we could go up to $10,000. And the whole goal is for that starter, that starter loan to see if I can get it going,” said Horton.
One Hope Financial representatives state they make their loan choices based upon character – not credit rating.
“So we look at some projects before the person, right? That the project makes sense, and then we figure out creatively, how can we get you the capital to make it happen?” said Ashley.
One such business owner is Dr. Finnie Coleman. He’s an UNM teacher, and the owner of an animal grooming business in the northeast heights.
“If I could hire three groomers right now I do it. I have more business that I can take. I don’t have- I can’t hire the people with the skills that I need,” said Coleman.
That battle influenced his latest endeavor, which One Hope Financial is assisting with.
“We came up with an idea ‘Vets for Pets,’ where we take veterans and train them for this $215 billion industry,” Coleman said.
With his loan, Coleman is refurbishing kennels in the International District which will house dogs that would otherwise be put down.
“We open in July, we’ll start training veterans in this, and we’ll start saving dogs,” said Coleman.
One Hope Financial Institution received a grant from the Kellog Foundation, and it’s getting assistance from the City of Albuquerque as it begins.
Heinrich is checking out methods he can supply assistance too.
