Testimonials
Erma Smith always loved children. A single
parent, she worked hard to raise her now-grown daughter, then found
herself alone and unfulfilled.
She became a foster parent, and then
her sister-in-law suggested starting her own childcare business.
Erma found out about Asset Builders and the Austin Child Care
Providers Network in 2002.
Ms. Smith took to the program immediately. It provided her with information, support and
financing. “I loved it! Anything you need to know to help you start
your business and make it work, they provided,” she states. “I’m not
a saver. There is always something that needs fixing around here,”
she says of her home of 27 years.
Erma received matching funds of $2
for every dollar she saved. With $2000 savings, she now had $6000 to
work with, which allowed her to finish her basement and purchase the
lot next door which is now a playground for her home childcare
business. Elisa and William with "Nanny" Erma Smith
Ms. Smith also received all the necessary education. “I learned about business
management, paperwork reports and all the legal requirements.”
Erma also adopted two kids of her own despite being a grandmother of
three and great-grandmother of two. “You have to love children to be
in daycare,” she states with pride. My family thinks I do too much.
They say you can’t save the world. I’m glad I got into the program,
it was the best thing. I didn’t know what to do. Now I feel like I
am doing what I am supposed to do!”
Shanya Shelton greets a visitor at the door of her apartment, smiling and shaking the visitor's hand. Her son, Jeremiah, has just completed school for the summer, and politely gives the visitor a high five and smiles the same smile as his mother.
Shanya proudly shows her certificate from the Individual Development Account (IDA) program.
Shanya started a hair salon with her twin sister, Tanya, in Detroit about 25 years ago. After moving to Chicago, she said she wanted to go for her associate's degree in business at Truman College. She will be starting back to Truman in August and will be finishing her degree very soon. Jeremiah will also be going back to school so she is learning the difficult balance of being a mother, a student, and a business owner.
She shares her philosophy: "Help someone else, and your blessings will come from that."
Shanya proudly explains that she is currently fine-tuning a business plan to obtain national grants for Our Little Angels, which would provide children haircuts free of charge. The business plan has already been critiqued twice by professionals. If she is awarded the grant Shanya plans to not only offer free haircuts for children but also hopes to be able to remodel and update her shop.
To others who are taking on business ventures, Shanya offers advice:
*First, pay your tithing.
*Second, save the amount that has been targeted each and every month, and it will truly make a difference at the end.
Something that Shanya finds helpful is that each month, stickers get sent to remind her to put that money aside. Those stickers make a real difference, she says. Three years after completing the IDA program, she still has a sticker on her refrigerator.
She makes a point to thank three specific parties for her success: Her sister, for succeeding in business in Detroit on her own; the IDA program; and Fred Stupen, Executive Director of Asset Builders.
"Fred was a real friend to me back then."
Vanessa Dean was already a college graduate when she found out about the IDA program in 2001. “A friend told me about it,” she recalls. Vanessa had a vision: To obtain a masters degree and start her own not for profit business-a shelter for women in recovery.
Mrs. Dean was able to save $1500 which was matched by Asset Builders for a total of $3000. “The program helped discipline me to save money,” she states. The financial literacy training was valuable too. “These courses helped me create a budget and I learned how to make a balance sheet,” she says.
She used the money to achieve a Master’s Degree in Human Services Administration at Spertus College. Her business, Ruby and Mildred’s Faith Based Women’s Shelter was incorporated last year. She is currently waiting for her official tax-free status from the IRS and negotiating with the City of Chicago for real estate on which she can locate the business.
Mrs. Dean learned a lot from Asset Builders and she has passed this information on to her daughter who is currently attending college at the University of Illinois at Champaign.
She also has advice for those currently enrolled in an IDA program. “Take advantage of the workshops! Study the information and use it. Don’t give up! It will be worth it in the end. It may be tempting, but don’t touch the money!”
Vanessa’s organization will teach women with at least six months of sobriety to live successfully on their own and her clients will receive the same financial literacy training she received from the IDA program to help become self-sufficient.
