Can Microfinance Make It in America?
In the January 11, 2010 TIME magazine article " Can Microfinance Make It in America? ," Barbara Kiviat asks if the success of microfinance in developing countries can transfer to the United States: Emily Medina isn't running a pyramid scheme, despite what people often think. As the petite 26-year-old works her way through some of New York City's poorer neighborhoods, she approaches women selling food and trinkets on the street and offers to lend them money to grow their businesses. The organization Medina works for, Grameen, is one of the world's largest microfinance outfits and has a Nobel Prize to its name for this work. But in New York neighborhoods where loans to street vendors tend to come with interest rates north of 40%, it can take a while to build trust. "I didn't believe it until I had the $1,500 check in my hand," says jewelry seller Rosa Lopez. Thirty years ago Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen franchise, started lending small su...