June 25, 2020 • 8 mins
The LiftFund is one of the largest micro-lending programs in the US, providing entrepreneurs from low-income communities with access to capital and financial training. We hear from LiftFund founder Janie Barrera about how this CDFI works to change lives, and from Bank of America's Sharon Miller about the Bank's commitment to small businesses.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for Today. Sometimes you can make the best product in
the world, run a successful business for decades, and still
end up without economic security. Jennie Barrera knows that firsthand.
As a teenager in Corpus Christi, Texas, she worked as
a waitress in her parents Mexican restaurant, and while the
food at the restaurant was great and the customers happy,
(00:49):
Janie saw how little her parents ended up with. By
the time the Barreras retired, they had no money to
live on except their Social Security check of one tho
dollars a month. Decades there, Janie Barrera, x waitress and
also a former nun, launched what has become one of
the biggest micro lending programs in the US Lift Fund,
(01:09):
and it provides exactly the kind of help her parents
could have used. Access to capital and financial training. We
were introduced to Lift Fund by our partner Bank of America,
who was working closely with them to make sure that
LIFT Fund continues to help businesses access capital during this
critical time. Today, we'll hear from Janie Barrera and Sharon Miller,
(01:30):
who leads small business banking at Bank of America, to
learn just how vital this work is today. Now based
in San Antonio, Lift Fund makes loans to small businesses
that can't get conventional bank loans, along with the support
and know how that will allow them to succeed. Started
by Jane In, Lift Fund serves people in thirteen states,
(01:52):
from Texas to Mississippi, from Arkansas to New Mexico. To date,
the Fund has made more than three hundred and nineteen
million dollars in loans to over twenty one thousand borrowers.
These borrowers are small business owners, often African American or Hispanic,
and they are the lifeblood of their families and communities.
LIFT Fund is what is known as a community development
(02:14):
financial Institution or c d f I. C d f
I s are more than loan granting institutions. They work
closely with the people they serve. Over the past twenty
six years, Janie has witnessed the ingenuity and resilience of
these small business owners. We talked to Janey and here's
what she had to say as I reflect on why
(02:36):
lift Fund got started in what's the importance of an
organization like lift Fund and actually a community development financial
institution a c d f I like lift Fund is
because we literally empower people UM through financial education and
act as to capital. So UM the whole idea of
financial education acts as to capital, and the best you
(03:00):
to that capital is some way is a is a
way that we can leave legacy for UM for the future,
and that's a way that we can break that cycle
of polity. The role in minority owned businesses play is
that they create jobs, they help the economy, and what
happens they go and hire people that are in the
(03:20):
same situation. So it's a multiplier effect that it helps
build communities, UH in a neighborhoods. What we've learned is
how to mitigate risks by working with people that really
want to make a difference in their lives and build
that business. And so we've got so many examples of
of UM business owners who started out with nothing. UM.
(03:43):
One comes to mind, who who who was in jail
for about thirteen years. He tells the story that he
ended up buying himself a lawn more and the equipment
and started doing people's yards. Alma, our loan officer, met
him at a community event. She said to him, you're
an entrepreneur. You know. Fast forward now eight years later
(04:04):
that man owns three companies, any employees, three hundred people.
Lift Fund is a not for profit organization. We are
a community development financial institution as a not for profit
and a and we're not a bank. We rely on
investments and we rely on donations, and those donations come
(04:26):
from as little as a ten dollar donation UH to
institutions like Bank of America over the years, who have
donated millions of dollars to lift On in our twenty
six year history. It's a great combination of a of
the not for profit and the for profit world working
(04:47):
together um to be able to use dollars and use
the financial world to build a better life for people.
We also spoke with Sharon Miller, who had small business
banking at Bank of an America. As Janie mentioned, Bank
of America is a major supporter of LIFT Fund. Sharon
explained why Bank of America. We believe in small business
(05:10):
and really being the backbone of the US economy. So
when you start with that premise, partnering with c d
s fis and partners like live Fund and Janie, it's
so important to us to make sure that capital and
grants are deployed locally and they reached those that most
need it. We've had a relationship for over twenty years
(05:33):
with Live Fund, and coincidentally, I'm based in San Antonio
and so it's list Fund, So it's uh, it's an
amazing partnership and I've just really enjoyed getting to know
Janie throughout the years. Well. We work with small businesses
across the country, and in fact, Bank of America is
the number one lender in the United States to small
businesses across the country. We also are the number one
(05:56):
provider of capital to c D five. We have invested
one point six billion in cd F five through a
loan portfolio to make sure that we're increasing lending and
load of moderating income neighborhoods during normal times and then
times of crisis like this, it's even more important and
we want to make sure that we're providing access to
(06:17):
capital to those that need to glow, their business, expand
their business, open a business. And those are the types
of conversations we have with clients every day. Now, in
this time that we're in today, this healthcare crisis, those
conversations have pivoted to you know, what do you need
to do to reopen? As we move the economy forward
(06:39):
and as businesses reopen, how do we partner and help
those businesses come back online. It's so inspiring to hear
from Janey and from Sharon, and it's good to know
that during COVID nineteen, lift Fund is keeping these businesses running.
So here's something good for today. The pandemic has given
(06:59):
us a new appreciation of so many things in our lives,
including the incredible role small businesses play in holding our
communities together. Supporting small businesses and their owners is good
for us, it's good for our neighborhoods, and it's good
for our society. To find out more about lift Fund,
go to lift fund dot com. To learn about more
(07:20):
c d f I s supported by Bank of America,
go to Bank of America dot com slash c d
f I. Have a great day, Thank you for listening,
(07:41):
and please share today's something good with others in your life.
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(08:08):
from I Heart Radio, check out the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for Today. Sometimes you can make the best product in
the world, run a successful business for decades, and still
end up without economic security. Jennie Barrera knows that firsthand.
As a teenager in Corpus Christi, Texas, she worked as
a waitress in her parents Mexican restaurant, and while the
food at the restaurant was great and the customers happy,
(00:49):
Janie saw how little her parents ended up with. By
the time the Barreras retired, they had no money to
live on except their Social Security check of one tho
dollars a month. Decades there, Janie Barrera, x waitress and
also a former nun, launched what has become one of
the biggest micro lending programs in the US Lift Fund,
(01:09):
and it provides exactly the kind of help her parents
could have used. Access to capital and financial training. We
were introduced to Lift Fund by our partner Bank of America,
who was working closely with them to make sure that
LIFT Fund continues to help businesses access capital during this
critical time. Today, we'll hear from Janie Barrera and Sharon Miller,
(01:30):
who leads small business banking at Bank of America, to
learn just how vital this work is today. Now based
in San Antonio, Lift Fund makes loans to small businesses
that can't get conventional bank loans, along with the support
and know how that will allow them to succeed. Started
by Jane In, Lift Fund serves people in thirteen states,
(01:52):
from Texas to Mississippi, from Arkansas to New Mexico. To date,
the Fund has made more than three hundred and nineteen
million dollars in loans to over twenty one thousand borrowers.
These borrowers are small business owners, often African American or Hispanic,
and they are the lifeblood of their families and communities.
LIFT Fund is what is known as a community development
(02:14):
financial Institution or c d f I. C d f
I s are more than loan granting institutions. They work
closely with the people they serve. Over the past twenty
six years, Janie has witnessed the ingenuity and resilience of
these small business owners. We talked to Janey and here's
what she had to say as I reflect on why
(02:36):
lift Fund got started in what's the importance of an
organization like lift Fund and actually a community development financial
institution a c d f I like lift Fund is
because we literally empower people UM through financial education and
act as to capital. So UM the whole idea of
financial education acts as to capital, and the best you
(03:00):
to that capital is some way is a is a
way that we can leave legacy for UM for the future,
and that's a way that we can break that cycle
of polity. The role in minority owned businesses play is
that they create jobs, they help the economy, and what
happens they go and hire people that are in the
(03:20):
same situation. So it's a multiplier effect that it helps
build communities, UH in a neighborhoods. What we've learned is
how to mitigate risks by working with people that really
want to make a difference in their lives and build
that business. And so we've got so many examples of
of UM business owners who started out with nothing. UM.
(03:43):
One comes to mind, who who who was in jail
for about thirteen years. He tells the story that he
ended up buying himself a lawn more and the equipment
and started doing people's yards. Alma, our loan officer, met
him at a community event. She said to him, you're
an entrepreneur. You know. Fast forward now eight years later
(04:04):
that man owns three companies, any employees, three hundred people.
Lift Fund is a not for profit organization. We are
a community development financial institution as a not for profit
and a and we're not a bank. We rely on
investments and we rely on donations, and those donations come
(04:26):
from as little as a ten dollar donation UH to
institutions like Bank of America over the years, who have
donated millions of dollars to lift On in our twenty
six year history. It's a great combination of a of
the not for profit and the for profit world working
(04:47):
together um to be able to use dollars and use
the financial world to build a better life for people.
We also spoke with Sharon Miller, who had small business
banking at Bank of an America. As Janie mentioned, Bank
of America is a major supporter of LIFT Fund. Sharon
explained why Bank of America. We believe in small business
(05:10):
and really being the backbone of the US economy. So
when you start with that premise, partnering with c d
s fis and partners like live Fund and Janie, it's
so important to us to make sure that capital and
grants are deployed locally and they reached those that most
need it. We've had a relationship for over twenty years
(05:33):
with Live Fund, and coincidentally, I'm based in San Antonio
and so it's list Fund, So it's uh, it's an
amazing partnership and I've just really enjoyed getting to know
Janie throughout the years. Well. We work with small businesses
across the country, and in fact, Bank of America is
the number one lender in the United States to small
businesses across the country. We also are the number one
(05:56):
provider of capital to c D five. We have invested
one point six billion in cd F five through a
loan portfolio to make sure that we're increasing lending and
load of moderating income neighborhoods during normal times and then
times of crisis like this, it's even more important and
we want to make sure that we're providing access to
(06:17):
capital to those that need to glow, their business, expand
their business, open a business. And those are the types
of conversations we have with clients every day. Now, in
this time that we're in today, this healthcare crisis, those
conversations have pivoted to you know, what do you need
to do to reopen? As we move the economy forward
(06:39):
and as businesses reopen, how do we partner and help
those businesses come back online. It's so inspiring to hear
from Janey and from Sharon, and it's good to know
that during COVID nineteen, lift Fund is keeping these businesses running.
So here's something good for today. The pandemic has given
(06:59):
us a new appreciation of so many things in our lives,
including the incredible role small businesses play in holding our
communities together. Supporting small businesses and their owners is good
for us, it's good for our neighborhoods, and it's good
for our society. To find out more about lift Fund,
go to lift fund dot com. To learn about more
(07:20):
c d f I s supported by Bank of America,
go to Bank of America dot com slash c d
f I. Have a great day, Thank you for listening,
(07:41):
and please share today's something good with others in your life.
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Care Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(08:08):
from I Heart Radio, check out the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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