Victoria Rayas is the administrator of Victoria's In-Home Care. Rayas receive d a loan from ACCION Texas to start the company.
Victoria Rayas had spent 20-plus years working in the medical industry, earned a master's degree in business administration and came up with a great business idea.
But she couldn't get a bank to give her a loan to start her own company and make her dream a reality.
So she turned to ACCION Texas, a nonprofit lender that helps what it calls "nonbankable" people start or grow a small business.
Rayas was able to get an $11,000 loan, enough to start her company, Victoria's In-Home Care, in May 2011.
"I tried different banks," Rayas said. "They turned me down. ACCION was the only one who gave me an opportunity.
"It was a startup business," Rayas continued. "A lot of banks didn't want to take a risk with a startup."
Her business provides nonmedical personal-assistance services to people in need, including the elderly, the disabled and those recovering from surgery or a hospital stay.
"We bathe them, groom them, provide companionship, take them to doctor's appointments, prepare meals for them," Rayas said. "Whatever their special needs, we do it."
She used her ACCION loan to purchase the state license she needed, to buy marketing materials and office supplies and to hire one worker.
Now, a year later, she has six employees and has diversified what her business does.
Her company also provides home services and repairs for the same clientele and for anyone else. This includes fixing windows and doors and turning on air conditioners and heaters.
Rayas' company
is also an authorized dealer for the MediPendant emergency alert system. Clients can wear it like a watch or necklace. If clients fall or have another emergency, they can push a button and talk to an EMT-certified operator. Their care-givers will be notified too.In addition, Rayas' company sells Medi-Lok, which you can use to lock up a key for a medical provider and put it on your window or door.
Rayas got the idea for her business while taking care of her mother who is half-paralyzed on one side of her body.
"I went through the struggles and was on the other side of trying to find resources to try to help my mother," Rayas said. "That encouraged me to start this and help clients so they wouldn't go through the struggles I did."
She is now seeking a second loan from ACCION and plans to rent an office near University Medical Center and the Texas Tech medical school. Her company had been based at her home for the first year.
Elvira Valles, vice president of ACCION Texas' West Texas Region, said Rayas is a classic ACCION success story.
"It was a no-brainer" to give her the loan, Valles said. "She had the experience, the education and a business plan. Those reasons were important because they reduced the risk of the loan."
Rayas also made a commitment of some of her money too, Valles said.
ACCION gave Rayas enough of a loan to get started but kept the amount within her ability to pay it back easily, Valles said.
ACCION Texas is considered a community development financial institution. It provides microloans ranging from $500 to $250,000 for entrepreneurs who want to start or grow a small business but can't get funding through traditional sources, like banks.
In 2011, ACCION's El Paso office issued $2.1 million in loans, helping 133 small businesses. That made it the organization's busiest office, beating out those in Austin, Dallas and other large Texas cities, Valles said.
About 95 percent of those loans helped El Pasoans but ACCION's local office also serves surrounding West Texas counties, Valles said.
Through April this year, the El Paso office is off to another strong start, issuing $917,000 in loans that helped 52 small businesses.
"That's how we serve economic development in El Paso," Valles said.
The goal of ACCION is to help people who can't get traditional funding, graduate them from its loan program and give them the ability to then go to a bank, Valles said.
"So many people come in with the dream and the experience," Valles said. "They just need the opportunity."
Across the nation, lenders similar to ACCION are making a big impact.
The Opportunity Finance Network is a national network of more than 180 community lending institutions. From 1985 through 2010, its members issued $24.2 billion in loans to benefit low-income, low-wealth and other disadvantaged communities across the country.
"Small businesses are the heartbeat of the U.S. economy," wrote Mark Pinsky, president and chief executive officer of the Opportunity Finance Network, in an email.
"They create jobs, generate revenue and serve community needs," Pinsky wrote. "Small business employs nearly one-half of all private-sector workers, according to the Small Business Administration."
Phillip C. Silva, director of the SBA's El Paso District Office, said ACCION plays a vital role in the local community.
ACCION helps people get started in business, boosts their income levels and then they employ other El Pasoans, Silva said.
It is being used more and more as word of mouth has spread, Silva said.
"That's the best advertising, people who have used their services," he said.
David Burge may be reached at dburge@elpasotimes.com; 546-6126; on Twitter @dburge1962.
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