Gloria, Owner, Parkside Postal

In 2005, Gloria was looking for a new career path after a job selling timeshares. She found a listing for the sale of Parkside Postal, a neighborhood mailbox and postal business. When Gloria met with the owner, who was retiring, she knew she could run the business even though she had no prior knowledge of the industry. “It was customer service-based, and I knew I could do that,” she says. “Owning the business felt like something I could do and wanted to do.”

However, when Gloria decided to repaint and fix up the space a few years later, she had a hard time finding the funds. Like many small business owners, Gloria had taken out a $10,000 loan and several lines of credit to purchase the business, so her credit took a hit. She learned about Opportunity Fund through a loan application event co-sponsored with Urban Solutions and found just what she needed — a Credit Builder loan. “I just needed a little bit, $1,500, a helping hand to fix the place up,” Gloria explains. Today, Gloria is looking to hire an assistant to manage the store while she works a few days a week as a firefighter in Oakland. She has her EMT license, and wants to get more involved in community work.