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Liberian Refugee Used IDA to Start Small Business

Okra, eggplant, palaza and dried fish. While some may think “exotic food,” Juah Dyer thinks “business opportunity.”

Juah operates a successful small business selling raw and cooked West African vegetable specialties. Her success can be attributed to entrepreneurial spirit, hard work, and assistance from the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA), a partner working with CFED to develop effective ways to finance small businesses.

Juah came to New York City in the late 1990s as a refugee after losing her husband and two children in the Liberian Civil War. She worked as a home health worker until she was diagnosed with kidney disease and was unable to continue the physically strenuous tasks involved in patient care.

Thinking like an entrepreneur, she identified a need for traditional African fruits and vegetables in Stapleton, her Staten Island neighborhood. She enrolled in NYANA’s Individual Development Account (IDA) Program for Refugees. At the same time, she completed NYANA’s course in personal financial and basic business management.

NYANA also gave Juah a $500 business loan. Linking a business microloan to IDA savings accounts is a powerful idea that CFED is testing through an initiative called “Integrating Savings and Credit.” NYANA is one of dozens of local groups around the country that have worked with CFED on financial innovations like linking savings to credit, savings in IDAs, and providing working capital for growing businesses.

For Juah, “Integrated Savings and Credit” has made all the difference in the world. As she picks African vegetables in New Jersey to sell in New York, she is proud of her success. Juah knows that no matter how her life might change in the future, she has built the skills and credit history to create new economic opportunities for herself.