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Charina Vergara began her culinary career as a food vendor at local night markets where she offered original Filipino cuisine. In 2019, she was offered a business opportunity to take over an existing Filipino restaurant. Ms. Vergara and her business partner jumped on the chance and became the new owners of Titas of Manila in West Covina, CA. Like many other small business owners needing capital, Ms. Vergara initially used her personal savings to launch and operate the restaurant. However, the funds were soon exhausted. Fortunately, she was connected to CAMEO member, PACE, where she worked with Loan Officer Redy Babasa-Thompson to obtain a $100,000 SBA Community Advantage Loan. When the pandemic struck in 2020, Titas of Manila was forced to temporarily close and later drastically alter its operations in order to comply with the Governor’s statewide closure of dine-in restaurants. As a relatively new venture with only 14 months of operation under its belt, the restaurant almost immediately felt the adverse effects of the pandemic. Staffing was cut by 50%, menus were streamlined, and expenses were eliminated in order to further mitigate financial loss. Ms. Vergara once again connected with PACE and got help securing an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), 1st draw PPP loan, and, most recently, a second PPP loan. Thanks to guidance from CAMEO member, PACE, and Ms. Vergara’s perseverance, Titas of Manila stayed afloat and continued serving delicious and authentic Filipino meals.
Charina Vergara began her culinary career as a food vendor at local night markets where she offered original Filipino cuisine. In 2019, she was offered a business opportunity to take over an existing Filipino restaurant. Ms. Vergara and her business partner jumped on the chance and became the new owners of Titas of Manila in West Covina, CA. Like many other small business owners needing capital, Ms. Vergara initially used her personal savings to launch and operate the restaurant. However, the funds were soon exhausted. Fortunately, she was connected to CAMEO member, PACE, where she worked with Loan Officer Redy Babasa-Thompson to obtain a $100,000 SBA Community Advantage Loan. When the pandemic struck in 2020, Titas of Manila was forced to temporarily close and later drastically alter its operations in order to comply with the Governor’s statewide closure of dine-in restaurants. As a relatively new venture with only 14 months of operation under its belt, the restaurant almost immediately felt the adverse effects of the pandemic. Staffing was cut by 50%, menus were streamlined, and expenses were eliminated in order to further mitigate financial loss. Ms. Vergara once again connected with PACE and got help securing an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), 1st draw PPP loan, and, most recently, a second PPP loan. Thanks to guidance from CAMEO member, PACE, and Ms. Vergara’s perseverance, Titas of Manila stayed afloat and continued serving delicious and authentic Filipino meals.
El Centro specializes in providing culturally competent financial wellness programming, business coaching and entrepreneurial training to Latinx individuals and entrepreneurs in south Louisiana. Their customers' businesses were greatly affected by Covid-19, we know over nearly 30% had to close their business, many were forced to move to limited hours and suffered very low sales. Immigrants who have Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers did not qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and PPP loans, which these individuals were originally told they would be eligible for. El Centro collaborated with other nonprofits to provide 200 people with microgrants via direct deposit. These microgrants were used to provide direct financial support to people whose families have been impacted economically by the COVID 19 crisis.
El Centro specializes in providing culturally competent financial wellness programming, business coaching and entrepreneurial training to Latinx individuals and entrepreneurs in south Louisiana. Their customers' businesses were greatly affected by Covid-19, we know over nearly 30% had to close their business, many were forced to move to limited hours and suffered very low sales. Immigrants who have Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers did not qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and PPP loans, which these individuals were originally told they would be eligible for. El Centro collaborated with other nonprofits to provide 200 people with microgrants via direct deposit. These microgrants were used to provide direct financial support to people whose families have been impacted economically by the COVID 19 crisis.
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