Microfinance Here in Seattle? My Visit to Washington CASH

Hongqing Chen

Hongqing Chen, a Portfolio/Risk Manager, recently joined Wokai’s Seattle Chapter. Click here to see her profile on Wokai.org! 

On a freezing December evening, I braved south Seattle’s icy roads to visit Washington CASH  (Community Alliance for Self-Help),  In my quest to get involved with microfinance, I’d read their two most recent annual reports, and thought, ‘Wow, they are working on a shoestring budget and still making a big difference in many people’s lives!’  So I was especially excited to learn more.

Images courtesy of Washington CASH.

By the entrance sat a group of volunteers, wrapping donated gifts.  I walked down a hallway into a classroom with about 40 people.  They had notebooks and pens ready, and focused closely on the evening’s lesson about personal credit scores. 

Next, I met with Cheryl Sesnon, Washington CASH’s CEO.  Cheryl’s office was more like a teacher’s studio than an office for CEO.  A classic lady, Cheryl wore a warm smile and a red blazer.  She answered my questions about operations, funding cost, loss rate, and future development.  I was surprised to hear her say that Washington CASH had no shortage of money to lend out.  (How nice!  I thought.  Then again, no bank is short of money to lend.  The problem is that they are all afraid to make loans now.)  Knowing that I came to learn how microfinance works and operational details, she emphasized that I needed to be first and foremost focusing on helping borrowers when working as a volunteer here. 

What intrigues me most about Washington CASH is how it adopts the Grameen model.  When a borrower shows up at the door, Washington CASH requires him/her to attend an 8-week long class about basic finance, organization, marketing, and other entrepreneurial skills.  The borrower will then find several classmates to form a group, with a president and treasurer, to help each other to be successful and diligent in repayment of the loans.

I’ve been assigned to work with a group of four borrowers that Cheryl has not yet certified.  The group consists of four borrowers with such interesting businesses: 

- A woman who had just relocated from Texas and needed a loan to pay for virtual office space for her tax service
- A house cleaner using non-toxic products. (She was a returning borrower)
- One person in the personal health enhancement business (Also a returning borrower)
- A photographer who wished to borrow money to buy lighting equipment. 

There are three volunteers assigned to the group (two young ladies who had been long-term volunteers, and me.) Each borrower filled out a questionnaire with their business ideas, and what they had learned so far through Washington CASH. 

Hopefully our group will be certified in the next session!  I am so excited to learn more about how microfinance really works on an individual level.