Arkansas Daycare Makes Overdue Facility Upgrades Using PPP Loan
Client: Makethia Smith dba Moma Keta’s Childcare
Client Location: Pine Bluff, AR
CDFI: Communities Unlimited
CDFI Service Area: Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee
Financing, with support from Google.org Grant Program
Based in Pine Bluff, AR, Moma Keta’s Childcare was determined to stay open throughout the pandemic. Owner Makethia Smith would not take a salary so she could pay her four employees and ensure struggling parents had a place to keep bringing their children in Jefferson County — the persistent poverty county where they are located. She also pushed aside improvements to the facility to keep the doors open. Fortunately, Makethia soon connected with Communities Unlimited, who had contacted the Arkansas Early Childhood Association to help reach daycare owners in Arkansas with information about how the second round of the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) could help them.
Although Makethia didn’t initially qualify for a PPP loan under the SBA guidelines when she first reached out to Communities Unlimited, the SBA later made an adjustment allowing sole proprietors who did not show net profit but did show positive gross income to qualify for PPP funding. Communities Unlimited got back in touch with Makethia and she quickly qualified for a $7,040 forgivable PPP loan.
After closing on the loan in March 2021, Makethia was able to use the funds to pay herself and also paint and provide tile flooring for the daycare, which hadn’t been updated in the entire eight years she had been in the building. When she heard the news about her loan approval, Makethia exclaimed, “Now we can get the new floor for the kids!”