Since 2022, nine (9) entrepreneurs who were formally incarcerated have benefited from

TMC’s microloans and/or business support services!

Recipients share testimonies of TMC’s impact via survey!

First Recipient Survey Responses: (2022)

1.     Yes I believe the Trenton Microloan collaborative has benefited my business.

2.     My top 2 business successes is 1) I am current in my taxes from the help of the Trenton Microloan program and 2) I don't feel as stressful and worried as I did before working out my Tax issues which the Trenton Microloan team helped me with.                           

3.     No I did not purchase anything with TMC loan because I received help from the Trenton Microloan team members instead.  Help with finding a bookkeeper who worked pro bona at first to then help finding a great accountant that worked for me at a discounted rate that saved me way pass the loan money I could have gotten.   

4.     Question number 4 and 5

5.     Please read my answer in question 3 to get a better understanding of why.  Thanks. 

6.     As a person the TMC Ministry has helped me way pass words that I can write in this email, they've given me hope in my business, in life and also in faith.  TMC's group of people is really amazing, they have helped me to see that there's still some great heartwarming people in this work.  Thanks for all the work the TMC has done with me.  Forever Grateful.

Second Recipient Survey Responses: (2022) 

1.     Do you believe your small business has benefited from receiving a Trenton Microloan Collaborative (TMC) loan?  Yes or No? YES

2.     Please list your top 2 business successes since receiving your TMC loan. Be as concrete and specific as possible.

a.      Conducted the 2022 RIE Sober Soiree Black Carpet Affair- 182 people attended and showed support.

b.     RIE became the New Jersey anchor for the Mercer Trauma Informed Recovery Oriented Services of Care (Mercer TI-ROSC)

c.      RIE begin to track inventory point of sales.

3.     Have you purchased anything with your TMC loan? Example: Business vehicle, equipment, merchandise)

a.      RIE Inventory

b.     Point of sale product – SQUARE

4.     What percentage of your purchase if any is represented by your TMC loan amount?

Example: Vehicle cost: $4,000. TMC loan: $2,000. Percentage: 50%.

a.      Inventory cost @ 70%

b.     POS product @30%

 5.     How has your loan purchase(s) items helped your business?

Be as specific as possible.

This loan was able to sustain and stabilize RIE by being able to purchase more inventory for sale and help offset cost for the Sober Soirees.  This loan also helped RIE from folding and kept the business afloat.  Especially with the ability of time to pay back loan was deferred.

6.     How has the TMC Ministry helped you as a person (beyond your business)?

This loan process and working with the partners has given me hope. And made the realization that I can continue as a business and is helping to fulfill my dream.

 Third Recipient Survey Responses: (2023)

1.     Do you believe your small business has benefited from receiving a Trenton Microloan Collaborative (TMC) loan?  Yes or No? Yes

2.     Please list your top 2 business successes since receiving your TMC loan. Be as concrete and specific as possible: Purchased a printer I needed and ordered stock materials.

3.     Have you purchased anything with your TMC loan? Example: Business vehicle, equipment, merchandise): Epson XP – 15000 Printer

4.     What percentage of your purchase if any is represented by your TMC loan amount?

Example: Vehicle cost: $4,000. TMC loan: $2,000. Percentage: 50%.: Loan $1000, $499-50%

5.     How has your loan purchase(s) items helped your business? Be as specific as possible: Its helped me greatly. I didn’t have the funds to get the printer and the loan provided the opportunity and its helping me a lot.

6.     How has the TMC Ministry helped you as a person (beyond your business)?: It’s helped me realize that there are kind people out here who do good for people.

Community Partners Share Testimonies of TMC’s Impact

4/5/24

Tracey Syphax, Founder & CEO

From the Block to the Boardroom LLC.

667 Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Blvd

Trenton, NJ 08618

Dear Rev. Hernandez-Granzen,

I am delighted to recommend Trenton Microloan Collaborative’s Innovation Grant application and $20,000 funding request to the Synod of the Northeast. As a Trenton Microloan Collaborative (TMC) partner, I have observed the project’s founding team work diligently over the past three years to launch and strategically develop this worthy, innovative initiative. Never content with sitting on the sidelines, I have actively served as a trusted, community-based referral source for four of TMC’s nine participants.

TMC’s mission to invest its resources in small business entrepreneurs who returned to the Greater Trenton community from prison is poignant and inspiring. Because of TMC, this deeply stigmatized, underserved group of men and women who are shut out of the commercial lending arena are blessed with the opportunity to improve and expand their businesses and strengthen their business skills.

I have devoted much of my career and personal life to others who, like me, were incarcerated, and like TMC’s participants, I am an serial entrepreneur. I own and operate several successful, award-winning businesses in real estate development, restaurant acquisitions and entrepreneurial programs . As an African American, I am passionate about speaking to and mentoring teens and young men, instilling in them the confidence and skills to become the next generation of entrepreneurs. In my autobiography, From the Block to the Boardroom, I share how my success comes from the faith, love, and second chances given to those who were formally incarcerated. One of my companies teaches inmates in New Jersey Dept. of Correction(NJDOC) and Juvenile Justice Commission( JJC) entrepreneurial skills and having programs like TMC provides them with the much needed capital to continue to succeed.

TMC now possesses the potential to scale up its service model and provide zero-interest loans and business skills training to more entrepreneurial business owners. A Synod of the Northeast Innovation Grant would help professionalize an all-volunteer project structure and expand services to additional entrepreneurs who have returned from prison. As partners, we share one goal: to stimulate business growth and foster success.

If you have any questions or require any additional information, please do not hesitate to reach me at 1-609-209-3285. 

 Sincerely,

Tracey D. Syphax

Barbara F, Flythe

55 Brophy Drive

 Ewing, New Jersey, 08638

March 29, 2024

Dear Rev. Hernandez-Granzen,

It is with pleasure that I write to support the request of the Trenton Microloan Collaborative’s Innovation Grant of $20,000 to the Synod of the Northeast, PCUSA.

I am a prison justice reform advocate and activist and am well-informed about the extreme, difficult re-entry roadblocks experienced by the formerly incarcerated in re-starting their lives and planning for the future.

This mission/ministry of TMC which supports returning citizens to become small business entrepreneurs is both innovative and challenging. As a service model it is a win-win for all   - the formerly incarcerated, their families, local businesses, and the community at large. There is great potential that with wider support, funding, and collaboration. This program can become an integral factor in the economic and business growth of the region.

I have observed the TMC for the past 3 years as it evolves, designs program structures, and builds positive relationships and strong friendships with the vulnerable population which they serve. This is a joy to witness!  Additionally, from their faith community identity, the opportunity for TMC Board members to support the formerly incarcerated aligns with the call to service for Christians, particularly, as it is delineated in Matthew 25. This is a special gift.

The local ministries with which I am affiliated include the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, Campaign to End the New Jim Crow of Mercer County and the Ending Prison Slavery Committee of the Mass Incarceration Task Force.

I write as an ally and friend with the hope that this application for funding support for the Trenton Microloan Collaborative from the Synod of the Northeast, PCUSA, be given thoughtful consideration

Please call me at 732-551-0803 If you have any questions or require additional

information,

Yours in Solidarity,

Barbara F. Flythe

Prison Justice Reform Advocate

Mercer County, New Jersey

Andre Thomas, Partner and Program Manager

Renewing the Mind, LLC

Leadership from the Inside Out

Transforming Lives

110 Columbia Ave. Trenton NJ 08618

4-3-2024

Dear Rev. Hernandez-Granzen,

I am delighted to recommend Trenton Microloan Collaborative’s Innovation Grant application and $20,000 funding request to the Synod of the Northeast. As a Trenton Microloan Collaborative (TMC) partner, I have observed the project’s founding team work diligently over the past three years to launch and strategically develop this worthy, innovative initiative.

TMC’s mission to invest its resources in small business entrepreneurs who returned to the Greater Trenton community from prison is poignant and inspiring. Because of TMC, this deeply stigmatized, underserved group of men and women who are shut out of the commercial lending arena are blessed with the opportunity to improve and expand their businesses and strengthen their business skills.

Renewing the Mind, LLC, a company run jointly by my father and me, conducts workplace readiness soft-skills training to men and women who have returned to the community from prison. Through a contract with the City of Trenton’s Office of Returning Citizens, Renewing the Mind covers seminar topics such as Starting a New Job and Making a First Impression, Building a Strong Relationship with Your Supervisor, Resolving Conflict, and Managing Stress. Additional topics include Certification Training and Financial Planning.

TMC now possesses the potential to scale up its service model and provide zero-interest loans and business skills training to more entrepreneurial business owners. A Synod of the Northeast Innovation Grant would help professionalize an all-volunteer project structure and expand services to additional entrepreneurs who have returned from prison. As partners, we share one goal: to stimulate business growth and foster success.

If you have any questions or require any additional information, please do not hesitate to reach me at 609-672-2311. 

 Sincerely,

 Andre Thomas

Virginia Kerr

124 Jefferson Road

Princeton, NJ 08540

609-2520125

 April 4, 2024

Dear Rev. Hernandez-Granzen,

I am delighted to recommend Trenton Microloan Collaborative’s Innovation Grant application and $20,000 funding request to the Synod of the Northeast.  As a Trenton Microloan Collaborative (TMC) admirer, I have observed the project’s founding team work diligently over the past three years to launch and strategically develop this  innovative initiative.

TMC’s mission to invest its resources in small business entrepreneurs who returned to the Greater Trenton community from prison is an important one.   Because of TMC, this deeply stigmatized, underserved group of men and women who are shut out of the commercial lending arena are blessed with the opportunity to improve and expand their businesses and strengthen their business skills.

I am a member of the Steering Committee of  the Mass Incarceration Task Force–(MITF), a mission project of Nassau Presbyterian Church which partners with Witherspoon Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church on projects that respond to the many challenges of our carceral system.  The MITF  shares TMC’s Christ-driven values and our projects include support of a number of re-entry initiatives in Mercer County.  The TMC is unique among those because it helps returning citizens who are entrepreneurs with start-up capital , guidance, and basic support services. 

TMC now possesses the potential to scale up its service model and provide zero-interest loans and business skills training to more entrepreneurial business owners. A Synod of the Northeast Innovation Grant would help professionalize an all-volunteer project structure and expand services to additional entrepreneurs who have returned from prison. As partners, we share one goal: to stimulate business growth and foster success.

If you have any questions or require any additional information, please do not hesitate to reach me at 609-252-0125 or by email at vakerr@gmail.com. 

Sincerely,

Virginia Kerr

Testimonials FROM ALL SUPPORTERS