Nicaraguan Opportunities Investment via WCCN's Capital for Communities Note
Loan
Nonprofit creating economic opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs and farmers in Latin America
Founded in 1984, Working Capital for Community Needs (WCCN) is a nonprofit organization that empowers low-income Latin American entrepreneurs and small-scale farmers through access to microcredit and fair trade markets by sustaining partnerships with Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Farming Cooperatives in Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru.
Summary
Your dollars support working families in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. With access to microfinance, borrower after borrower have told us how they are better able to care for the health and well-being of their families as their business grows and their income increases.
Social Impact
As the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Nicaragua has a severe shortage of capital. The lack of financial services makes it difficult for the entrepreneurial poor to grow their business from sustenance-level to thriving. From coffee farmers to small shopkeepers and restaurateurs, Nicaraguans have immense potential to increase their income by purchasing seeds, sewing machines, and store inventory
For over 20 years, WCCN has been providing working capital to the hard-working poor of Nicaragua. Your investment helps WCCN to accomplish its mission of poverty alleviation with a sustainable, financially sound model. WCCN is proud that the partnerships we build between Nicaraguan microfinance institutions, borrowers, and North American investors have a strong social impact on the working poor in Nicaragua.
Impact Example
Xiomara is a true entrepreneur success story. Demonstrating what a small loan and hard and consistent work can accomplish. Nine years ago, Xiomara had a plan to make and sell tortillas but lacked the resources to purchase ingredients. With a $350 loan she started making tortillas over an open fire. Now, with the help of her family she is making and selling over 700 tortillas a day. While she has to rise at 3 AM to make 700 tortillas, the pride she has in her business is palpable. When asked what impact microfinancing has had in her life and business she answered simply: "everything." Using the profits from her business and a second loan she purchased a propane stove and constructed a new building to house her business and family. Her business also allows both her children to attend school. Her daughter attends a private university where she is studying computers and her son is in high school.
