Houston 2013 Fundraiser

Seeds of Hope Honorees 2013

Acción Texas, a non-profit organization operating in Texas and seven neighboring states, makes loans to individuals who have the capacity to start a business, but lack sufficient credit or assets to qualify for financing by a traditional bank. Since its inception in 1994, Acción has made life-changing loans to thousands of low-income entrepreneurs, including many Houstonians.

The Community Cloth, a microenterprise initiative of Our Global Village-Houston, empowers refugee women to create and market handmade, indigenous, arts and crafts such as woven bags and baskets, knitted scarves, and baby clothing. In practicing their crafts and selling their products, the women not only preserve their culture and heritage, but they also obtain much-needed supplemental income as they transition to life in the US.

University of St. Thomas Social Entrepreneurship Program, a student-operated program, provides impoverished individuals around the globe with loans to launch income-generating businesses. The program has financed a wide variety of projects such as beekeepers in Pakistan, and small farmers in Mexico. It currently includes projects in Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique, and a proposed project with the Navajo Indians in New Mexico.

The Microfinance Program at the Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, is committed to empowering the underserved through microfinance programs both globally and locally. Bauer students tailor venture consulting to aspiring low-income entrepreneurs in the Third and Fifth Wards, Greater East End, and in South West Houston, support them in gaining access to micro loans, and provide free financial literacy classes and business/entrepreneurship education and training skills needed to run a successful small business.