After being released from prison, Hines Washington started a moving business—Hines’s Family Movers. As his business grew, Washington needed office space, but he couldn’t afford it. And, as a recently incarcerated individual, he found it difficult to secure a loan. Washington turned to the Fountain Fund, a local nonprofit dedicated to giving low-interest consumer, vehicle, […]
After being released from prison, Hines Washington started a moving business—Hines’s Family Movers. As his business grew, Washington needed office space, but he couldn’t afford it. And, as a recently incarcerated individual, he found it difficult to secure a loan. Washington turned to the Fountain Fund, a local nonprofit dedicated to giving low-interest consumer, vehicle, […]
Martez Tolbert grew up hustling. “Even as a 3-year-old, I was selling drugs for my uncle and didn’t even know it,” he says. “He was just giving me little backpacks to go up the street.” When he was 11, Tolbert moved with his family from Detroit to Charlottesville, landing in Westhaven. He was raised by […]
Here’s what readers asked for: I’d like to suggest a piece on the criminalization of poverty (which is essentially what is happening to people who are incarcerated and are low-income), and a look at what we do at the Fountain Fund, where we provide low-interest loans to the formerly incarcerated to help them get their […]