I won a grant and the best part wasn't even the money.

Here’s me with the other grantees and our partner organization representatives.

I was recently one of the 8 winners of the Latino Community Fund seed capital for micro entrepreneur grant. The funds for this grant was provided by Latinx individuals to help small entrepreneurs offset initial capital investments. Latino Community Fund has also paired us with a nonprofit organization and a mentor who will provide additional support, because no entrepreneur can succeed without a community.

 I really wanted this grant to help get me covered in the way of liability insurance and a lift certification so that I can continue to pursue ever larger mural opportunities. These grants are funded 100% by individual donors, all Latino business owners themselves, who believe in investing in the community. A huge thank you to Pamela Barba of Vamos Ladies because without her I would have never known about this grant.

What I realized when I got my $1000 check and that it wasn’t even the best part. As an artist whose been making work since elementary school, I’ve spent a lot of time feeling like nobody really cared. It’s easy to think people don’t even like your work. I’m slowly unlearning this, and realizing that there are so many people out there who want to support you, they just don’t know you yet. Thank you so much LCF for making all of us feel special and supported by our community.