SOAR Fund Keeps FL Small Businesses Going Strong

Florida News Connection

July 27, 2022

By: Brett Peveto

Florida small businesses looking for financial help often have limited options, but there is a new opportunity for assistance.

A group of community lenders created the Southern Opportunity and Resilience Fund (SOAR), to help small companies and nonprofits recover from the impacts of the pandemic. SOAR loans are available up to $100,000, with an interest rate fixed at 4%, much lower than traditional loans. They're available through lenders known as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).

Fabiana Estrada, Southeast region director of lending for Ascendus, explained the program's goal.

"Our mission as a CDFI is to provide capital for those small business owners that they are not bankable, that they are not ready to be having a conversation with a traditional lender," Estrada outlined.

Businesses must have fewer than 50 employees to qualify for a SOAR loan, and must also have been in operation prior to September 2019. The fund has $30 million available, and because demand is high, Estrada predicts the money will likely be used up by year's end.

David Stackhouse, owner of Positive Energy Battery Company in Jacksonville, which has benefited from a SOAR loan, said working with a Community Development Financial Institution has its advantages.

"They actually want to do business with me," Stackhouse emphasized. "I'm a small company and so, qualifying for financing and lending, even through my local, trusted banking partners, it wasn't going to happen."

SOAR loans can be used for a variety of purposes including marketing, supplies, and payment of property taxes, utilities and rent.

"With supply chain issues being what they were -- I sell all kinds of batteries all over the United States -- I could not experience a shortage in supply," Stackhouse stressed. "So, the first thing I used the funds for was to carry my own inventory."

Financing is available in 15 southern states, and 80% of past SOAR Fund loan recipients identify as women or persons of color.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project. 

July 31 Prayer Pod

 

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 31 Proverbs 17:1
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Better is a dry morsel with quietness, then a house full of feasting with strife.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen      

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July 30 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 30 Proverbs 28:13
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen    
  
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Some Incarcerated People to Become College Grads at Miami Dade College

 
Florida News Connection

July 25, 2022

By: Trimmel Gomes

Eighteen incarcerated students will become college graduates Tuesday at Everglades Correctional Institution in South Florida.

Imagine taking an Intro to Constitutional Law class while serving a sentence. A group of 20 students joined the first class of the Second Chance Pell Experiment program in 2021. It offers federal Pell grants to imprisoned individuals, so they can earn a postsecondary education.

Samantha Carlo, co-director of the Institute of Educational Empowerment at Miami Dade College, which facilitates the program, said the success rate for the first class is pretty remarkable considering the many constraints of teaching in prison. The group of 18 out of 20 are set to receive associate degrees.

"Students in Cohort One who will still be incarcerated, all of them are matriculating into our bachelor's degree in business, specifically in Supervision and Management," Carlo explained. "The students will continue on while incarcerated to get their bachelor's degree."

Carlo noted two students have been released, and both are employed in the nonprofit sector. She credits their experience, college credits and their abilities for securing jobs before graduation, which is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Everglades Correctional Institution. The second class of students selected in January is already underway.

Carlo emphasized many of the participants, who are now in their 40s and 50s, said they regret not realizing the benefit of an education when they were younger and are grateful for the opportunity to rebound from their mistakes. Carlo added it is why the program is currently focused on issuing degrees in business.

"We selected the business degree because it is most open and most forgiving with people who have felony convictions on their records," Carlo acknowledged. "So it will ultimately prepare them to work in an industry that requires some business training."

Carlo stressed the program helps reduce recidivism and anyone with a high school diploma or GED at Everglades can apply for enrollment, but showing proof of Florida residency to obtain funding is the biggest challenge since being incarcerated doesn't count.

Carlo stated the program tries to work with interested individuals to find the required proof of residency one year prior to them being locked up.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.

 

July 29 Prayer Pod

 

 
We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 29 Acts 24: 16
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
This being so, I myself always strive to have a good conscience without offence toward God and men.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen   
   
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July 28 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 28 2 Timothy 1:7
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen      

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Some candidates use a train others a bus .........

 

July 27 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 27 Psalm 34:4
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
I Sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen      

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July 26 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 26Isaiah 41:10  
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
Fear not for I am with you: be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen    
  
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July 25 Prayer Pod

  We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 25 2 Peter 1:3
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
As his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and goodness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen    

  
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The World Is Round but Time Is Flat

 

FLORIDA  

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD

The James Webb telescope is about to change how all of us from the most noted astrophysicist to theologians, to the common man walking around, view our world and the universe that is around us.

The pictures so far are astounding. Once the things of science fiction, now appear before us being revealed by this magnificent scientific instrument from the very edges of deep space.

It's difficult to not be moved by these images.

Among an almost infinite number of scientific questions and part of the great mystery to potentially be revealed by this look into deep space is the origin not only of our universe or even of our world, but of us the humans.

The age-old questions surrounding the biblical representation of the beginning of time to the modern scientific view of The Big-Bang theory have captivated theologians, scientists, philosophers, artists, and many of us who walk around on this planet every day wondering way off in the background of our mind, where did we come from?

A lot of people hope that one of the images that will be acquired from the James Webb telescope is somebody out there waving back at us. The hope is that this will prove that there are other universe's other worlds and other life forms out there.

Problem is, if we should see someone out there waving back at us, since the telescope looks back over time, is that a new universe or is it just us waving at ourselves over a time warp of space?

The discovery eons ago that the world, in fact, is not flat, but it's round, and it rotates on its own axis while it rotates around the sun has given us comfort in consistency.

Interestingly, ever since we've figured that out, we've all been running around in circles.

The scientific community out there is going to be in a complete dither about the massive amount of information that the James Webb telescope is going to reveal during the time it survives.

Check out this article from  SPACE.com By Keith Cooper: Dazzling James Webb Space Telescope image prompts science scramble.

One of the things that the James Webb telescope is already beginning to confirm is the fact that we are on a time continuum.

While our world and solar system reinvent time every 24 hours and approximately every 365 days, it appears that the time continuum on which all of this was created, whether by the hand of God or the Big Bang, is linear (a straight line), and continues to expand and move forward at an increasing rate.

Perhaps, through all the research from the information and images being discovered by the James Webb telescope looking back, we can begin to piece together from images of the creation of universes and planets to the death of those same universes and planets how much time we may have left.

There has never been a promise that all of this that we experience in this cosmic moment of time will last forever.

We already know from what little we've seen that the cosmic timeline is a harsh reality. Creation, and most likely life begins, and ends along the cosmic timeline. Stars are created and die; planets are formed; black holes occur, and universes disappear.

If you are looking for some comparative reading material, check out the book of Genesis Chapter one in your Bible. It's easy to find it's, the first book in the Bible.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook, follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

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July 24 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 24 Philippians 1:6
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen   
   
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July 23 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 23 Psalm 25:3
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed; let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen 
    
PLEASE SHARE TO YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM  

Grants Fund Emergency Supports for Florida Farmworker Families

Florida News Connection

Originally Posted: July 21, 2022

By: Suzanne Potter

Florida farmworkers are getting some much-needed support thanks to a grant from the Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor Food Alliance (HEAL).

The grant of more than $4,000 is being used to distribute food, host vaccine clinics, and help families pay their bills.

Neza Xiuhtecutli, general coordinator and executive director of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, said many farmworker families were ineligible for federal assistance during the pandemic, so the need is great.

"We are helping them with direct assistance to help them pay for rent and some of their utilities," Xiuhtecutli outlined. "We are also helping with buying food and passing it among some of the neediest families."

The Farmworkers Association of Florida represents 10,000 members, and about 6,000 families have reached out to seek help. The Association's ongoing COVID-19 response also includes assistance filling out applications for SNAP, Medicaid and unemployment, distribution of personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 education.

Navina Khanna, executive director of the HEAL Food Alliance, said they are giving out $52,000 in rapid-response grants to food justice organizations targeting communities of color.

"We were seeing that to go through a whole funding process is often very, very cumbersome in terms of an application and reporting requirements and things like that," Khanna noted. "And that by creating a pool of funds and getting that out to our communities, our communities could do what they need to do."

The grants are designed to be flexible and can be used as needs arise. They have benefited eight grassroots, BIPOC-led organizations across the country.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.

July 22 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 22 Philippians 4:13
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen
      
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An $18 Billion Rail Tax, Accident Prone Trains and 2022 is NOT 2018

Tampa, Fl
From: Eye On Tampa Bay
Posted by: Sharon Calvert

The same people who lied about the illegal 2018 rail tax are now pushing the $18 Billion 2022 rail tax. They call it a "moderate" investment and refuse to call it what it is - a TAX. 

These are the same people responsible for why $562 MILLION of unlawful tax dollars was illegally collected. Those funds are still have not been refunded to the TAXPAYERS in Hillsborough County.

How can these people be trusted? 

We already have two of the country's most accident prone "death" trains in Florida - street level rail lines Brightline and SunRail that cause many accidents and create congestion. 

The $18 BILLION rail tax forces taxpayers to hand HART transit agency, with a ridership of 2%, $8 Billion to fund street level rail in Tampa. Is it fair for taxpayers in unincorporated Hillsborough to fund Tampa rail? Who wants more accident-prone congesting creating "death" trains?  

These same people are confident that since voters voted for the illegal rail tax in 2018, voters will vote for the rail tax in 2022. Are they stuck in 2018 believing they can mislead voters again?

But we're not in 2018 anymore.

And 2018 is NOT 2022!

Hear PodCast at: An $18 Billion Rail Tax, Accident Prone Trains and 2022 is NOT 2018

Posted by Sharon Calvert at 3:11 PM  
This post is contributed by EYE ON TAMPA BAY. The views expressed in this post are the blog publisher's and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher of BayPost Internet.

Cross Posted with permission from: Eye On Tampa Bay

July 21 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 21 2 Corinthians 5:7
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen 
    
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James Webb Telescope First Looks

 

July 20 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 20 Hebrews 12:28
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen    
  
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FL Research Tracks Impact of Drought, Sea-Level Rise on Forage Fish

Florida News Connection

By: Trimmel Gomes

Preliminary research shows less fresh water and higher sea levels could be changing the forage fish in Florida's famed Apalachicola Bay and the fisheries that depend on them.

University of Central Florida biology graduate student Kira Allen won a $15,000 fellowship from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to research food web models.

Allen looked at how drought and reduced river flow affects prey fish, such as anchovies, pinfish and menhaden. She said the study also simulates the potential future impacts on predator species - like speckled sea trout and Spanish mackerel.

"The freshwater reduction and sea level rise result in a pretty big increase in salinity in the bay," said Allen. "And a lot of the fish that live in the bay prefer the lower salinities, we're seeing pretty heavy predictive declines in their population."

Allen said she hopes her findings will spark a new food web model for the Apalachicola Bay Estuary that could address environmental impacts on individual forage fish species.

Florida's fisheries managers face many challenges keeping estuaries healthy to support recreational and commercial fishing, as well as ecotourism.

The Forage Fish Research program is supported by a coalition that includes The Pew Charitable Trusts. Justin Grubich, a fisheries scientist with Pew, said the partner organizations came together about six years ago to help improve ecosystem approaches in state fisheries management.

"The idea was to look at how we can advance sort of ecosystem-based approaches to our fisheries management," said Grubich, "because we know in Florida recreational fisheries are a $12 billion industry. "

Grubich said after realizing they could tap a treasure trove of graduate students to advance the research, the coalition - including the International Game Fish Association - has been awarding fellowships to help inform future fisheries management.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.

July 19 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 19 Jonah 4:3-4
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
Therefore now, oh Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live! Then the Lord said, “is it better is it right for you to be angry?”

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen   
   
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July 18 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life

July 18 Matthew 8:2-3
Pray: Lord hear Your words:
And behold, a leper came and worshiped him saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Then Jesus put out his hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; Be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray – Amen 
      
PLEASE SHARE TO YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM 

Biden and The Crown Prince - World History in the Making

From FLORIDA  

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD 

We have all had to do it at one time or another, that awful moment when we must go to somebody we have openly criticized, and they know it, and ask them for a favor.

It is happening at the highest level of the US government this weekend as President Biden ventures to Saudi Arabia and a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Back in the days of the presidential campaign, like many politicians, Biden would become the victim of unfortunate political rhetoric. Biden made a vow during his election campaign to make Saudi Arabia a pariah, and once he was elected; he refused to speak with the Crown Prince, attempting to punish him with isolation.

President Biden approached this moment with few cards in his hand. The U S economy is in fitful shape, as we all know, inflation the highest, it's been in 40 years in the past month, gasoline prices through the roof, and now he needs the Crown Princes’ help in increasing the oil supply in hopes that increased supply will drive down gasoline prices at the pump and in turn create some turnaround in the inflationary upward spiral.

It was very difficult to see how this could go well. The Crown Prince enjoys his position on the world stage as a power player and with vast amounts of wealth and influence over the world oil markets, it would seem the Crown Prince may be in the driver’s seat.

Biden likes to negotiate. But a true negotiation involves something you have that the other party wants, and something that the other party has that you would like to have or accomplish. It is unclear at this point that there is little, if anything, the Crown Prince, and Saudi Arabia need from the United States.

Perhaps the Crown Prince would like a very embarrassing Biden apology for his comments and positions both before, and after he was elected president but that will leave an already weakened Biden literally coming back to the United States with his tail between his legs.

Biden's old-school approach of negotiate and compromise simply does not work in today's world order and global economy. As calls continue to rise for Biden not to run for president in 2024, a political embarrassment with Saudi Arabia would most likely seal his fate.

I'm writing this as the conversations between the Crown Prince, and the president are just beginning, and it's extremely difficult to know how all this may finally end up. One thing is certain. It is unlikely that President Biden has a significantly deep understanding of all that motivates the Saudi government and the people in control.

They live in a world entirely different than ours with an old world look but a new world view. A world view that has developed over decades of manipulating the major global source of energy for political power purposes.

As president of the most powerful nation in the world, you would think that President Biden would be on an equal or even greater footing than the Crown Prince.

The fact is, he is not. With our economy sagging, the moral culture of our population eroding, inflation running rampant, and more and more regimes around the world willing to stand up to the United States, Biden appears in this most difficult moment at one of the most critical times in our country's history as the weaker of the two adversaries.

How well President Biden does or does not do in this verbal confrontation with the Crown Prince may well shift the global political power structure.

If Biden does not hold his own with the Crown Prince, he may very well return to the United States as a lame duck president.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook, follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

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