no.11 - microloans on maui

so if you tune into the news, you may have heard that this year's nobel peace prize was given to dr. muhammad yunus of grameen bank which is working to pull people out of poverty via microloans. if you're not familiar with this concept, the idea is ingenious in its simplicity since basically it is a small loan given to a person who wants to start a business and who the mr. potters of the world consider too insignificant to help. it's a hand up instead of a hand out and since the repayment rates on microloans are very high the cycle can continue on to help more people.

in a developing country, as little as $20 can turn someone into an entrepreneur overnight but in the states it takes a bit more. maui economic opportunity (which also has branches on lanai & molokai) helps fill that need in hawaii with their business development corporation. the program launched in 1997 and has since helped create over 500 businesses in the islands. the average loan is $3881 but loans as low as $500 are available to recipients.

something as simple as a loan to kickstart someone's dream has a tremendous trickle down effect when you take into consideration the impact it has on the business owner's family, new employees and the community at large.

meo does lots of other good things like running maui's head start program, providing down payment loans to maui residents, operating housing for the disabled & aids survivors, and teaching financial literacy to island teens.

click here to learn how you can make a difference!