Denette Casey knew she had a great idea for a business — giving herbal wraps out of her home. In fact, the idea turned out to be better than she ever envisioned, and soon she had too many clients and not enough room.

"I needed capital badly," says Casey. "But I didn’t even try for a bank loan. I knew it would be useless."

Instead, at a friend's suggestion, she talked to ACCION San Diego and soon she moved her business to an office building where it has expanded and flourished.

Stories like Casey's — business owners who can’t qualify for regular SBA loans — are common. In those cases, micro loans with an organization like ACCION can make the difference. The nonprofit ACCION lends credit in the form of business loans in amounts of $300 to $25,000.

"We do this to foster community development," says Sandra Wharton, program specialist for ACCION. "Our clients are low to moderate income, ethnically diverse and from every walk of life. They may be having some problem with their credit, don’t have collateral or haven't been in business very long."

ACCION loans aren’t for new businesses. Entrepreneurs must show proof of being in business at least six months. Borrowers, who pay 16 percent interest, are given one-on-one counseling as part of the program, which may explain the low default rate of 5 percent.

Last year, ACCION dispersed $675,000 to 669 clients. Started in the 1960s in Latin America (its United States headquarters are in Boston), ACCION San Diego is independently owned and operated. The company works on a step lending method.

"People give what they can for the payments," explains Wharton. "After six months of paying on time, they can come back and get an additional loan."

For Casey, a loan from ACCION made all the difference. "I’m lucky," she says, "there are caring organization like ACCION to help people get re-established."