California Disability Services Provider Overcomes COVID Obstacles with CDFI Loan
Client: United Cerebral Palsey of SLO
Client Location: San Luis Obispo County, CA
CDFI: Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC)
CDFI Service Area: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY
Financing, with support from the Grow with Google Small Business Fund
Since 1987, United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of San Luis Obispo County (New Window) has provided critical community services for adults and children with disabilities living along California’s central coast. When UCP’s bank rejected their Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application, their previous lender Rural Community Assistance Corporation (New Window) (RCAC) quickly stepped in to help. RCAC made a loan to meet UCP’s payroll within two days, whereas UCP’s bank had taken two weeks just to reject their PPP application.
RCAC’s loan has allowed UCP to continue paying their 54 drivers for five days a week, even when most were working three days as stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines led to reduced transportation needs and office staff. UCP staff members also kept their medical benefits, and no one was laid off. Equally as important, thousands of people without alternative access to transportation were able to get where they needed to go last summer.
“I was at my last payroll. If [RCAC] hadn’t come around, I probably would have scrapped away for the month, but the next payroll would have been a disaster,” said UCP Executive Director Mark Shaffer.