A Legacy of Lending: The History of Prestamos CDFI

For 25 years, Prestamos CDFI has stood as a champion for small businesses and entrepreneurs who dream big but often face barriers to funding. What began as a single spark within a community-driven movement has grown into a powerful network of opportunities — helping thousands of entrepreneurs start, grow and sustain their businesses across the Southwest and beyond. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we look back at the roots that shaped us, the people who inspired us and the legacy of empowerment that continues to guide our mission today.

Chicanos Por La Causa

The origins of Prestamos CDFI begin with the roots of our parent organization, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC). Founded in 1969, CPLC began as a group of students and community activists who pushed back against racial discrimination. With a mission of empowering lives and pursuing equal opportunity, the early days of CPLC began with student walk outs, farmer protests and boycotts, and voter registration campaigns. Over time, CPLC grew into a well-established non-profit, providing a wide range of social services across Arizona and beyond.

 

Early Days of Lending

In line with its mission to empower lives and pursue equal opportunity, Chicanos Por La Causa expanded into the economic development sector. In the mid-1980’s, CPLC became a partner through the Rural Development Loan Fund – a federal program through the USDA that provided rural entrepreneurs with access to grants and loans for their businesses. Through this initiative, CPLC began making much-needed economic investments in rural communities that often-lacked access to traditional banking institutions.

A few years later, another opportunity arose through the Urban Development Loan Fund. CPLC was now able to expand its lending programs to urban entrepreneurs in city centers, such as Metro Phoenix and Tucson. During this time, CPLC invested in several notable projects, including the Mercado Marketplace – which provided small businesses with affordable retail spaces and the El Sol newspaper, Arizona’s first English-language newspaper that served the Hispanic community.

By the early 1990s, CPLC’s lending experience and proven community impact position the organization for a new partnership with the US Small Business Administration (SBA). CPLC began working with the SBA in 1992, and just two years later, in 1994, we successfully closed our first SBA loan. This milestone marked a pivotal moment in CPLC’s journey towards establishing a sustainable and impactful lending arm.

Through these and many other investments made over the years, CPLC’s impact was seen and felt throughout Arizona. These successes reinforced CPLC’s commitment to economic development. When the opportunity came to expand its services and deepen its commitment as a financial institution, CPLC gladly seized it.

 

The Birth of Prestamos CDFI

In 2000, CPLC made the decision to further its commitment to economic development and small business lending by becoming a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). This certification would allow CPLC to continue its work as a private-sector financial intermediary with community development as its primary mission.  However, before achieving this designation, a new entity had to be formed.

By this time, Chicanos Por La Causa had grown exponentially over the decades, expanding its services into a variety of sectors, including Early Childhood Development, Education, Health & Human Services, Housing, and Advocacy. Economic Development was just one of its many areas of impact.

The decision was made to form a new entity – Prestamos – to serve as the Community Development Financial Institution. The name, “Prestamos” does not just serve as a literal translation of the loans we provide but also reflects our core mission and call to action: to lend. It’s a reminder that our goal is to provide funding and support to communities and entrepreneurs traditionally overlooked by other lending institutions.

As a CDFI, we provide credit to small businesses, but our work goes beyond financial services. Our team of experts offers training and technical assistance services to entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey – from start-up to expansion. Through Prestamos, we honor the legacy of CPLC while looking toward the future, continuing to invest in our communities where it’s needed most.

Looking Ahead

As we celebrate 25 years of Prestamos CDFI, we recognize that our story is still being written—one loan, one business and one dream at a time. The same spirit of activism and empowerment that inspired our beginnings continues to drive our mission forward. With every entrepreneur we support and every community we uplift, we carry forward the vision of those who came before us: a vision of opportunity, inclusion and lasting change. Here’s to the next 25 years of lending, leading and building a brighter future together.