NON-PROFIT SPOT LIGHT
OPENING THE DOOR TO HOPE
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very first Wednesday of the month for eight months, the Calvary Baptist Multipurpose Room door opens to a group of hope-filled Latina women, and this has been going on for 19 years. Over 1,000 women have entered since 2008, and more than 150 of them have successfully launched U.S.-based businesses. The McAllen Chamber of Commerce founded Latina Hope in 2008, which has been sponsored by Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen and United Way since its inception. “Latina Hope is a women’s entrepreneurship initiative born from a deep understanding of the unique challenges Latina women face when trying to build businesses in a binational, bicultural border region,” said Jorge Sanchez, senior vice president of small business and innovation at the Chamber. “At its core, Latina Hope is about more than business education; it’s about dignifying the dreams of women who are often overlooked by traditional economic development programs, women who may be navigating language barriers, family obligations, and limited access to capital.” McAllen resident Diana Maribel Gomez has loved crafts for as long as she can remember, making hair bows for her two daughters when they were young, sewing, and crocheting. While
in a local craft store in 2016, Gomez began talking to another shopper who told her about Latina Hope. Gomez walked through that door and has brought many others with her over the years, today seeing herself as a Latina Hope ambassador. “They have all the tools to help you take your ideas and turn them into a home-based business,” she shared. “They give you confidence and motivation. They empower Latina women to create financial independence and support their families.”
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Gomez had her own set of tools, too—including tulle, ribbon, elastic, lace, thread, and glue. She added headbands, tutus, and T-shirts to her product line, personalizing them for individuals, teams, and squads. Gomez named her company Mary’s Bow Creations, turning to a shortened version of her middle name. She sells at pop-up markets in the Upper Valley and on Facebook and Instagram. Recently, Gomez and her daughter, Gaby Gomez, partnered up to create GiGi’s Sweetz & Desserts. “We make mini bundt cakes, tres leches, chocoflan, and empanadas—including cajeta and pineapple!” she explained. Maria Guerrero of Pharr has led many lives, working in produce warehouses and at Levi’s before earning a degree in tailoring and dressmaking in Reynosa. For nearly 20 years, she volunteered at Texas A&M AgriLife in Edinburg, teaching sewing classes in Valley colonias. For six of those years, she volunteered during the week. She drove across the border every Saturday to teach sewing lessons for the Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral de la
Familia (System for the Integral Development of the Family or DIF), a government social service agency in Mexico that aids impoverished citizens. A talented tailor and dressmaker, Guerrero had unexpected help naming her business. The AgriLife participants named her Dama Bonita (pretty lady) for her impeccable style and class. A woman in one of Guerrero’s AgriLife classes told her about Latina Hope, and she, too, walked through the door. “For many years, my dream was to have a business outside of