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Little Village – A Little Village nonprofit has provided more than 250 small grants to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic, organizers said.
The Little Village Foundation released its first annual report last month, detailing the services and grants it provided to businesses in 2020 and 2021. Opportunity Fund equity grant programs, according to the report.
Borrowers were able to use the money to pay rent, salaries and other expenses.
Kim Close, executive director of the Little Village Foundation, said she hopes the report will help spread the word about the bilingual business units, small grants and in-person services the organization offers.
“The foundation should be more transparent about what it is, and the annual report is there to explain its work: what we do, who we serve, what is our value proposition?” They said shut up. We want more people to know that we are here and what we are doing.
The foundation, formerly known as the Small Village Community Foundation, aims to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem “to connect current or emerging entrepreneurs with a set of solutions that can provide the necessary services precisely and easily,” according to the report.
Close said some of the foundation’s grant programs existed before 2020, but the pandemic has shown a need for financial support for many businesses in the small village and on the greater Southwest Side.
During the outbreak, the foundation was going door-to-door offering technical support and information about the group’s programs to help spread the word, Close said.
Check Protection Program loans “didn’t get here for a number of reasons. A lot of these small businesses are left,” Close said. The pandemic has given us a great opportunity to grow and try to help as many businesses as we can.
The foundation’s entrepreneurship programs are Juntos’ three.
- Juntos Lanzamos: A seven-week course designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs start their own businesses.
- Juntos Emprendemos: A 12-week program to teach business concepts for growth and long-term success.
- Juntos Avanzamos: A two-week “boot-camp-style” class on capital investments with the opportunity to be awarded a micro-grant.
“It’s about training business owners to think like entrepreneurs, so the small grants they receive should be used for capital investment,” Klose said.
in Pilson at 2206 S. Oakley Ave. Liz Rojas, owner of Energía de Corazon Cosmico, said she received a $3,000 micro-grant from the foundation this year after completing the Juntos Avanzamos program. Rojas said she actually took advantage of the Spanish language course and donated money.
“We were able to buy computers and printers and inventory systems. I didn’t even know that was possible,” Rojas said. “When you’re learning in your own language, it’s completely different.”
Small Village business owner Andrea Infante received a $3,000 gift, which will go toward her restaurant, Lucido Tacos, 4147 W. 26th St.
“It’s a safe thing,” Infante said. “You don’t need to go to the bank.”
Credit: providedRelated: The Little Village Xquina Incubator and Cafe is fully funded, with construction expected to wrap up in 2023.
The foundation will continue to increase visibility in the area with a community center and business incubator coming to West 26th Street in late 2023. Xquina Incubator & Cafe provides a physical space to support economic growth along the business corridor.
“Entrepreneurial services are in The Loop. They live in other places. Why is Chicago putting $1.5 million into Xquina? Because they want those services to be available in Spanish here in the Southwest,” Close said earlier.
Close said the foundation will continue to listen to small business owners to better identify the types of support they need.
“What’s the point of talking to 250 businesses on the road to recovery? We know what their needs are, we’ve done an assessment on all of them, we know what their pain points are,” Close said.
Click here to read the full report.
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