The International Rescue Committee was founded in 1933 to help people fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe at the behest of scientist Albert Einstein. Today the group has two principal missions: providing immediate assistance to refugees in more than two dozen countries around the world, and helping refugees settle into new lives in other countries.

As part of its resettlement efforts, the IRC’s San Diego branch launched a pilot program in 2000 to help refugees start their own businesses. Because many refugees were self-employed in their home countries, “There’s a great desire and interest in entrepreneurship and self-employment,” says Sean Carpenter, local director of the IRC’s microenterprise program.

When Carpenter’s organization started the program, it had no experience lending money and wanted to find a partner to make startup loans to its clients. Financial institutions were not helpful. “I literally had people laughing in my face. It was frustrating,” Carpenter says.

Then he talked to Gordon Boerner of San Diego National Bank, who loved the idea. Boerner put the IRC in touch with Acción San Diego, and the three agencies came up with a plan. A loan guarantee fund was created with $10,000 from IRC and $20,000 from SDNB, and Acción agreed to make the loans, although the agency doesn’t usually loan to startups. As part of the program, each new entrepreneur was given 10 weeks of classroom business training, which is now being modified into a series of seminars on specific business topics, says Carpenter.

The program looks at the prospective businesses with a critical eye, and if it doesn’t look like the business will succeed, the client is advised to find another way of generating more income, such as increasing hours or taking a second job. “This is not a social service venture. We’re really trying to start serious, successful businesses,” Carpenter says.

The goal is to give the refugees a boost as they strive for self-sufficiency in their new country, Carpenter says. So far, five of the new entrepreneurs have generated enough income from their businesses to buy their own homes. “It’s very impressive. This is not a handout, it’s a hand up,” Carpenter says.