Page 4
May 6, 2020
Grassroots Lender
c ontinued froM P age 3
After the last recession, Shaw
said lots of unemployed workers
came to MESO wanting to access
its resources and programs with
help to start their own business and
be their own boss. She expects this
to happen again.
“There’s no damper on people’s
ability to come back, though it’s
hard right now,” she said.
A unique feature of MESO’s new
loans is providing flexible payment
plans for its small loans, unlike
banks. The patient and flexible lend-
ing will have payments that can be
stretched out so the small business
can catch up with expenses like rent
until cash flow returns, Shah said.
The loans are geared to businesses
that often do not have financial re-
lationships with banks and bigger
financial institutions.
“We don’t want to get any one in
too much debt. We are not predato-
ry,” Shah said.
MESO also works to connect
small business owners and entrepre-
neurs with other important resourc-
es, from links to emergency relief
grants, to a free online platform to
help connect with customers, to tips
for marketing during COVID-19.
And when there is success,
MESO likes to share the good news,
as they did in a recent newsletter
featuring two minority-owned firms
Funerals ~ Memorial Services ~
Cremation ~ Preplanning
“Dedicated
to providing
excellent service
and superior care
of your loved one”
Funeral Home staff available 24 hours
503-249-1788
Terry Family Funeral Home
2337 N Williams Ave, Portland, Or 97227
www.terryfamilyfuneralhome.com
who worked with them and the city
for help, Taste of Casablanca and
Ladybugs Childcare.
Adam Cherkaoui, the owner of
Taste of Casablanca, had invested
$2,000 earlier this year to relocate
his food cart to a food cart pod in
the Sellwood neighborhood from
his previous location in St. John’s.
But instead of a grand opening cel-
ebration, Cherkaoui found himself
shuttering his business to protect his
family and clients from the spread
of COVID-19, MESO reported.
Cherkaoui was able to negotiate
with the owner of the food cart pod
to temporarily pay reduced rent and
recently learned he’s been award-
ed a Small Business Relief Fund
grant from Prosper Portland, the
city’s economic development agen-
cy, with support from the Oregon
Community Foundation, another
nonprofit.
The grant, along with the federal
stimulus, will help him support his
family until he can reopen his food
cart.
Angela Benson has spent the past
nearly three years building Lady-
bugs Childcare into a state-certified
home-business serving between 16
and 22 families. In the space of a sin-
gle day in March, however, Benson
saw her monthly business revenue
drop by more than 50%, MESO re-
ported. While Ladybugs Childcare
is still open for business, it is limited
to provide care for a maximum of 10
children at a time under state require-
ments adjusted for COVID-19.
MESO said Benson was hap-
py she could help essential work-
ers with much needed child care,
but she worried about whether she
would be able to keep all of her em-
ployees on the payroll. Her concern
was eased after she was selected to
receive a $10,000 Small Business
Relief Fund grant from Prosper
Portland with support from Oregon
Community Foundation.
Micro Enterprise Services of Or-
egon was formed by the Black Unit-
ed Fund as a grassroots initiative to
assist small businesses that were
experiencing challenges in the wake
of gentrification, new development,
and increased rents in North/North-
east Portland.
MESO is a designated Small
Business Administration micro
lender, an IDA fiduciary, a USDA
Rural Micro-entrepreneur Assis-
tance Program lender, and a Com-
munity Development Financial In-
stitution.
For more information about
MESO, email meso@mesopdx.
org or call 503-841-3351. To make
a donation or learn more about the
“Open for Business” fund, email
Nita Shah at nshah@mesopdx.org
or visit mesopdx.org/donate. If
you prefer to make a donation of-
fline, you can send a check payable
to “MESO” and mail it to MESO,
4008 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland,
OR 97212.