Two weeks ago, Kiva launched "Kiva Detroit": a non-profit, community coalition to bring more than $500,000 in microloans to small businesses in Detroit.
On the day of the launch, the Kiva team met up with our coalition partners in Detroit to celebrate with the local community. Fortunately, this community celebration was captured on film by Rachel Cook and her Microlending Film Project, which has been documenting microfinance in the United States and around the world.
The Microlending Film Project has shared with us their footage of the event, so that the Kiva community can get a sense for what it was like at the Kiva Detroit launch!
Many of the quotes in the video are really powerful:
"Someone asked me, is Kiva opening an office in Detroit? That's sort of what they thought this was about. Well, they're not. We are Kiva Detroit. We the people are."
- Rishi Jaitly, Program Director, Detroit, Knight Foundation
"I started the business because I'm always getting laid off. I've been working with Ford since '98 through various agencies, and you always get laid off. They call you back, but that gap is a problem."
- Jeanett Lynn, Kiva Borrower, Concierge Services
"The risk of failure in terms of starting a business is not really the real risk . The real risk that everybody runs is that they're going to live their life unfulfilled because they never pursued something that was meaningful. We're doing something meaningful today."
- Paul Quintero of ACCION USA
"Kiva is also personal and intimate. It's so much different than I expected. And I think that Detroiters aren't looking for a lot, they're just looking for a little something to get them started."
- Emily Ann, Kiva Borrower, Home Slice Clothing
Be sure to listen for quotes from Kiva co-founder and CEO Matt Flannery, Anuja Jaitly of Michigan Corps, and Trabian Shorters of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation! Also featured: all five of our Kiva Detroit borrowers: Delphia, Jeanett Lynn, Crystal, Nick and Emily Ann.
Many thanks to Rachel Cook and Megan Hryndza for their hard work on this documentary short!
