The Raza Development Fund’s Small Business Initiatives (SBI) team members approach their work with passion and a lot of heart to support our clients. When the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and subsequent extensions, our team jumped into action to support small business owners through the entire loan process from application to possible loan forgiveness. Throughout the months, our team has grown to be ready and able to provide as much assistance to our clients as needed. It is truly a labor of love and requires us to understand the needs of each small …

We’re coming home! The Raza Development Fund looks forward to moving our corporate headquarters to South Phoenix, serving from the heart of our community. To do that, we partnered with Gould Evans, a Phoenix-based studio that knows the RDF mission and history, to design our new home. “We’ve had a great partnership. They do good work, and we trust them. It was kind of a no brainer to choose them because they know us well and could understand the dynamics of what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to create within the community,” shares Star Reyes, RDF’s Client Services Manager who has worked closely with the Gould Evans team on the …

The Desert Mission Health Center in the Phoenix Sunnyslope neighborhood began serving the community’s needs giving medical aid and food to the needy 94 years ago and has continued to provide services through many decades.  It became part of Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health (NOAH) in 2015, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).  Its FQHC designation demonstrates that NOAH strives to and meets the needs of an underserved area with a great reception from the community. Currently located in a 6,600 square-foot renovated former church in the Sunnyslope community, the Desert Mission Health Center has served generations of families with …

Prior to the pandemic, running a successful small business was no easy feat. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in August of 2020, it was estimated that 20% of small businesses would fail within the first year, at the end of their fifth year close to 50% would fail, and in 10 years only one third of small businesses would still exist translating into an even higher failure rate of 70%. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the already existing struggles and brought so many more new challenges for small businesses to face for survival. Since the onset …

Private companies are considered “for-profit” entities, which clearly outlines their purpose – making money for their shareholders by providing a service people will pay for in a marketplace. Their counterpart “not for profit” entities are more complex, serving multiple stakeholders and aligning themselves to community needs. Yet, their nonprofit label communicates what they are not and offers no clear definition or path for sustainability. Words are powerful and these connotations often result in demonstrating that nonprofit organizations are not on a level playing field. After all, would calling nonprofits “charitable” and for-profit organizations “uncharitable” work? Probably not. At Raza Development …

2020 was unlike any other year because it would capture a moment in time amidst one of history’s most unprecedented pandemics.  People, families, and entire communities were suffering through sickness, loss of their loved ones and their suffering businesses meant a loss of income for their families.   When I first joined the RDF Communications team in February, my first assigned project was to work on RDF’s 2020 Annual Report, and from the beginning, I knew this report would be very different. An Annual Report is essentially an investment report highlighting an organization’s mission and impact and provides a comprehensive review …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 24, 2021 Contact: Ruby Marinez Phone: 602-417-1415 Email: rmarinez@razafund.org RAZA DEVELOPMENT FUND AWARDED WELLS FARGO OPEN FOR BUSINESS GRANT TO PROVIDE RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES IMPACTED BY COVID-19   PHOENIX, AZ.—Raza Development Fund (RDF), the nation’s largest Latino Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has been awarded a $3.5 million grant from the Wells Fargo Open For Business Fund in support of its Small Business Initiative program which serves minority and women-owned small businesses suffering from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding will extend its reach to support small businesses in Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Minnesota, …

Over the past few years, I’ve had the unique opportunity of working for the Specialty Finance team at RDF. This experience has opened my eyes to the profound impact New Markets Tax Credits (“NMTC”) has provided to underserved communities across the country and also how vital Source Loans are to the NMTC Structure.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with the NMTC Program, the NMTC Program “incentivizes community development and economic growth through the use of tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities” (cdfifund.gov). Instinctually, you may ask, what does this mean, what is a Source Loan, …

The nonprofit sector is facing its biggest challenge yet responding to a confluence of issues, including the pandemic, social justice, political unrest, and an economy on the brink of recession, hitting underserved communities they serve disproportionately. Most small businesses that began in and have become an integral part of their community face similar challenges. Having to close for periods, with reduced access to capital and needing to adapt to the ongoing crisis, small businesses, like their nonprofit counterparts, cannot merely “go online” or shift their operations in other ways that may allow them to survive. I believe in the community-based …