I've lent people more than $63 million to buy homes and start businesses: 'If you see a problem, fix the problem'

• Some Black residents of Little Rock, Arkansas, struggled to borrow money from traditional banks.
• Local barber Arlo Washington started giving cash loans to help people pay rent and bills.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Arlo Washington, a 46-year-old Arkansas barber who started a college to train barbers, a loan fund, and a credit union. Washington is the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary short film, "The Barber of Little Rock." The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm from Central Arkansas, the west side of Little Rock. I was born and raised there.

The city is diverse, but it's also economically segregated. Growing up, I lived in a low-income housing project area. I remember seeing disparities like dilapidated buildings and people struggling. It looked like concentrated poverty.

I wanted the prosperity of the more affluent side of town to extend to areas where I saw economic disparity. I didn't want to see boarded-up houses or businesses closing.

When I started my career as a barber, I aspired to be the change that I wanted to see in Little Rock. I wanted to advance equity and create new jobs.

Today, I'm the owner of a barber shop and the founder of the Washington Barber College. The college has 50 students and employs eight barbers.

I'm also the founder of the People Trust Loan Fund, which provides consumer and small business loans, as well as development services for disadvantaged small businesses and financial literacy for consumers, and the People Trust Community Federal Credit Union, which offers consumer and auto loans to those having a hard time qualifying with traditional banks. We have a location is in the community where I was born.

The credit union offers loans ranging between $500 to $50,000. We take on high-risk loans and work with people who have lower credit scores, so interest rates are anywhere from 4% up to 10%. If it's a small-dollar loan, we give from six months to a year for repayment. If it's a $50,000 loan, we go up to 72 months. To date, we've processed 6,220 loans, totaling $63,358,627.

The majority of the People Trust's borrowers are African-American.

The loans and grants we've provided have helped individuals who were unable to purchase homes become first-time homebuyers. Our clients have also opened a wide range of different types of businesses, including food trucks, barber and beauty shops, event spaces, and restaurants.

We've been focused on being the intermediary, and facilitating transactions that have reduced poverty and helped close the wealth gap in Little Rock.

It all started with a barber shop

When I first started out, I couldn't get a loan at any traditional financial institution and was unbanked.

I didn't have credit or a rich uncle who would say, "Here's some startup capital." I had to be creative and figure out where I was going to get the funds to do certain things.

I was enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and had received a credit balance check from a financial aid student loan. The check was $1,732 to be exact. I remember the amount because I was like, "I gotta do something. I need to leverage this in a way that I can't go backwards — I need to go forward."

I took $500 from the check and put it down on a rental space for a barber shop. To get it up and running, my customers, family, and friends also pitched in to help.

In the first year, the shop grew to nine chairs. I later purchased another barber shop, and with the profits from that business, bought an additional shop that was going out of business. I inherited about 27 employees.

I wanted my product to be consistent, so I trained those barbers and stylists. I noticed that some of them would get trained and go right out across the street and open up a business. I decided that I should probably establish a school.

The idea was to train and place barbers throughout the city, so we could create more financial opportunities.

We now have multiple locations where we employ and train barbers and help be a positive influence and a resource. Barbers are pillars of their communities — the cornerstones of the brick buildings. We hold up the community, especially in challenging times.

We're a safe haven.

I wanted to help my underserved community

The People Trust Loan Fund emerged out of unmet credit needs in the community.

In 2009, Arkansas became a credit desert due to the prohibition of payday lending. While our legislators did a great job of getting rid of predatory payday loans, they did not create a safe alternative. As community members were not able to access small-dollar loans, more people were turning to family, friends, and loan sharks.

People would come into the barber shop or college and say, "Mr. Washington, can I borrow some money?" How do you say no to customers who have been supporting you for years when they need help?

In 2013, one of my customers lost their job and needed $150. I loaned them the money, and a few weeks later, he came back and paid me. Then, his wife asked for a $150 loan, too. When the couple came back to repay her loan, they brought their cousin. It just took off from there.

At first, People Trust started out as a social service organization, a nonprofit.

We would provide sack lunches and assistance to low-income students returning to school. We would also pick up homeless individuals and bring them to the barber shop to provide haircuts.

There was a homeless man who enrolled in the Washington Barber College, and one particularly cold day, we found him sleeping underneath the trailer behind the barber school.

That really made us want to offer more to help the community. In 2014, we changed all of our organizational structures and by law became a financial institution. Our focus shifted more to lending and financial literacy. In 2016, we became CDFI-certified and received support from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. The Treasury Department also supported us with a technical assistance grant.

We give everyone a chance

The People Trust Loan Fund is a nonprofit organization that is governed by a 100% African-American board and 90% staff. It provides assistance with rapid rehousing and homeless prevention for those facing eviction.

We also provide emergency grants. If an individual needs clothes for a job interview, or they lost their job and they're about to be evicted, we can provide them with grants to help them regain their economic mobility and stay housed.

The credit union takes on a holistic approach and meets community members wherever they are on their financial journey.

We're not just going to look at your credit score and say, "No, you're denied." We'll look at your ability to repay the loan and evaluate your cash flow. If you have the cash flow, we'll make a loan that supports your budget.

If you're not showing the ability to repay, lack sufficient documentation, or have very low credit scores or are credit invisible, then we'll provide some counseling.

It usually goes like this: "Hey, look, we know you want to borrow $3,000, but maybe we need to start you out with a loan ranging from $500 to $2,500, and then let's see how that goes." Once they demonstrate their ability to make these payments, then we consider increasing the loan size.

There was a 60-year-old lady who had never purchased a home and always wanted her own, but she had some credit card debt. We provided her with a debt consolidation loan, and she just closed on her new home.

We also had a community member who was denied a loan from a large, traditional bank. She received four installment loans from us throughout the year. Each time, she would get a small loan, pay it off, and then get another small loan. Her credit score increased as a result. Eventually, she was able to get a larger line of credit from a traditional bank.

Our credit union is a Minority Depository Institution, which allows us to open accounts and serve members from anywhere in the country.

What we're doing is focusing on areas without bank branches, but with a high population density. For instance, we're preparing to open another branch in Little Rock and in the rural community of Wrightsville, Arkansas.

I can't believe my story is nominated for an Oscar

When my story was captured in "The Barber of Little Rock," I knew the directors were great in their profession. But I never in a million years imagined it would be nominated for an Oscar. I would have never thought about that, and I don't think my staff did either.

I'll be attending this year's Oscars. It feels surreal and amazing. I'm so happy that the story can be shared with the world. Having so many people view the film has resulted in a noticeable impact.

I've received so many emails from people who want me to come and do the same thing in their communities. I also have consulting offers and speaking engagements.

I believe that what I've been able to accomplish is something that speaks to my resilience as an entrepreneur. It's also a reminder that you can create opportunities from wherever you are.

If you see a problem, fix the problem.