Women's group lends helping hand
K Kaufmann • The Desert Sun • February 8, 2009
Five thousand dollars goes a long way in San Bartolomé Actopan, a village of about 3,700 in central Mexico, where the Women Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley has funded a microfinancing bank to help poor women open their own businesses.
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Started last year with a $5,000 donation from the Women Leaders, the communal bank has given small loans, ranging from $50 to $1,000 to a group of 16 women who call themselves “Las Optimistas” — the Optimists.
In addition to the money, women such as Virginia Jimenez-Rodriguez, a 47-year-old mother of four, also get health-care services and business training. The loans they pay back are loaned out again to help other women expand their businesses.
An initial loan of $100 helped Jimenez-Rodriguez open a small business selling movies and CDs. The venture's success means she can now save money and educate her children, who in turn are helping her with the business.
“These women are entrepreneurial. They want to be portrayed as women who want to work and raise themselves out of poverty,” said Margot Nelligan of Rancho Mirage, who chairs the Women Leaders' microfinance committee.
The group is holding a mixer, aimed at raising money for a second bank, at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 at Leeds & Son Fine Jewelers, 73-670 El Paseo, Palm Desert.
Microfinance “was something, when we started the Women Leaders Forum, we wanted to do,” recalled Mary T. Roche, the former mayor of Indian Wells who founded the group in 2001. “What happened is we had so many things on our plate, it didn't happen right away.” READ MORE..
Support women's group that helps others
The Desert Sun • February 11, 2009
It's not a hand-out but a hand up that breaks the cycle of poverty, and that is exactly what a group of Coachella Valley women are doing for others in need of a little help.
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The Woman Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley formed a nonprofit organization that gives small loans to women in impoverished situations in Mexico.
This remarkable program helps people who want to work and lift themselves out of poverty.
Similar programs help women in Third World countries around the globe to start businesses by lending money or buying livestock in small portions. It's often amazing how one goat can help support a whole family in some cases.
From small loans, these women have shown they can support an entire family and ensure an education and better life for their children.
In San Bartolomé Actopan, Mexico, for example, one woman has started selling CDs with a $100 loan from the Women Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley. When the money is paid back, it is used to make a loan to another woman. The organization started the loan program with $5,000.
The program also offers health-care services and business training. READ MORE...
Forum helping women in Mexico
The Desert Sun • March 1, 2009
Women Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley has established its first microbank to help women in Mexico pursue their entrepreneurial goals and enhance their communities.
The forum, bolstered by a donation from founder Mary Roche, partnered with the International Alliance for Women and Pro Mujer Mexico to fund the WLF Village Bank in San Bartolome Actopan, an area in northeastern Mexico.
Pro Mujer Mexico serves nearly 21,000 women living in more than 40 communities throughout six states in Mexico. It operates 1,249 communal banks through 22 branches, making loans that average $260. The loans helped one woman start a business selling movies and CDs. Others have used the loans to open a creamery and a shoe store. SEE DESERT SUN ARTICLE.
