{"id":24179,"date":"2014-06-05T14:21:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T21:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=24179"},"modified":"2014-06-09T13:41:07","modified_gmt":"2014-06-09T20:41:07","slug":"latina-support-program-closes-its-doors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/latina-support-program-closes-its-doors\/","title":{"rendered":"Latina support program closes its doors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Connie<\/a>
Connie Rivera, due\u00f1a de Mixcoatl Arts and Crafts y beneficiarios del programa ALAS. Su negocio est\u00e1 ubicado en el 3201 de la Calle 24, San Francisco desde hace 10 a\u00f1os. Foto Ver\u00f3nica Henao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mission District recently received the sad news that the Women\u2019s Initiative for Self Employment, a nonprofit organization that ran several programs to empower and assist women, was closing.<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Initiative housed the Alternatives for Latinas in Self-sufficiency (ALAS) program that helped low-income Latinas to start their own businesses in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost funding; we went from $5 million to $3 million in two years,\u201d said Danielle Franklin, executive director of Women\u2019s Initiative.<\/p>\n

These financial problems led the organization to suspend operations on April 5.<\/p>\n

On May 21, the Women\u2019s Initiative announced its decision to close and transfer its programs and services to Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, a nonprofit organization that provides entrepreneurial skill-building for men and women in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost a great organization,\u201d said Connie Rivera, a beneficiary of ALAS and owner of Mixcoatl Arts and Crafts, a store that she has operated on 24 Street for nearly 10 years.<\/p>\n

In 1988, Paulette Meyer founded Women\u2019s Initiative, after discovering a lack of economic opportunity for women in their communities. The idea was to help raise their self-esteem through the creation of their own job opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter taking the course I felt capable, I [felt] that I could have a business,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cIt was one of the beautiful things that happened to me, [and] not only to me but also to my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALAS offered training in San Francisco, Oakland and New York, including comprehensive management, access to seminars, one-on-one coaching, mentorship and the opportunity to network.<\/p>\n

Guisell Osorio, owner of the catering business and restaurant Sabores del Sur (Flavors of the South), fondly recalled her time at ALAS.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did not matter if you had papers or not, It did not matter if you spoke English, ALAS was amazing. It was the alternative for many Latinas,\u201d Osorio said, \u201cThere are people who never had a graduation in their life, there are people who could not write, but they graduated from ALAS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through partnerships with banks and other financial institutions, the organization utilized a microcredit model to support women in starting their own businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nice thing about this organization is that we could get various loans; while a bank will not lend money to a poor person without credit history,\u201d expressed Rivera.<\/p>\n

Between its three centers, ALAS helped approximately 13,000 Latinas over the course of its history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to ALAS, I am where I am,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cThe organization transforms lives and I am one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the moment, Women\u2019s Initiative and Renaissance are working on the transition of the programs and services. Renaissance has expressed its intention to continue the Women\u2019s Initiative\u2019s meaningful work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mission District recently received the sad news that the Women\u2019s Initiative, a nonprofit organization that ran several programs to empower and assist women, was closing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1184,3198,3199,1188],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-24179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-alas","tag-alternatives-for-latinas-in-self-sufficiency","tag-mixcoatl-arts-and-crafts","tag-womens-initiative","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nLatina support program closes its doors - El Tecolote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Mission District recently received the sad news that the Women\u2019s Initiative, a nonprofit organization that ran several programs to empower and assist women, was closing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/latina-support-program-closes-its-doors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Latina support program closes its doors - 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