A StrongerImpacts Documentary

StrongerTogether

Meet three Lowcountry women building businesses with grit, community support, and Kiva microloans. Watch the StrongerImpacts documentary, Stronger Together.

Three Women. Three Businesses.

One Community Behind Them.

StrongerTogether follows three women in the Lowcountry who are building businesses the way most people actually do: with their own hands, their family's support, and the belief that their community will show up when it matters. Gina turned her late grandfather's forgotten coffee plants into a thriving roastery. Julia built a micro school because she saw what her own daughter needed and knew other kids needed it too. Annie created a healthier alternative to fried chicken for the children in her daughter's daycare, and now she's scaling a product line that carries her mother's name. None of them had access to traditional bank funding. All of them found a path forward through Kiva microloans and the people who believed in them enough to back them. This is a film about what becomes possible when a community decides its small business owners are worth investing in.

Meet the Entrepreneurs

Meet the Women Behind the Film

Stronger Together tells the stories of three Lowcountry entrepreneurs who are building something real. Get to know them, then back another small local business

Julia Crumblin

Picking Up the Pieces Enrichment Center

When Julia's daughter started struggling in school, Julia saw what the system was missing. So she built the solution herself. Picking Up the Pieces combines daycare, after-school care, and a micro school model where kids learn in small groups and nobody gets rushed to the next subject before they're ready. Julia's Kiva loan helped her build out the space so the kids had a real place to learn and play.

Annie

Addielee's Kitchen & Catering

Annie named her business after her mother because she promised to carry that name everywhere she went. It started when her daughter Chanice told her the kids at daycare needed to stop eating so much fried chicken. Annie developed a healthier chicken burger patty the kids actually loved, and Addielee's was born. Today she and her husband Charles mix 80 pounds by hand for every batch. Her Kiva loan is funding the machine that takes them from handmade batches to grocery shelves.

Gina Cordoba

Tracer Coffee (Summit Grounds)

Gina moved to the U.S. from Colombia at 14. Years later, grieving her grandfather, she returned to visit family and found his farm overgrown. Hidden in the brush were coffee plants he'd planted before he died. That discovery became Tracer Coffee, a specialty roastery bringing Colombian coffee to the East Coast. A Kiva loan helped her expand her inventory, but what surprised her most was the crowdfunding itself: dozens of strangers invested in her business, and the self-doubt she'd been carrying started to quiet.

How It Works: Community-Funded Loans, Zero Interest

The women in this film didn't get funded by a bank. They got funded by their neighbors.

Kiva is a global nonprofit that provides crowdfunded microloans to entrepreneurs who don't have access to traditional capital. Through the Lowcountry Kiva Hub, run by Lowcountry Local First, eligible U.S. entrepreneurs can apply for loans of $1,000 to $15,000 at 0% interest, with no fees and no collateral required.

Here's how it works: an entrepreneur applies, their loan goes live on Kiva.org, and people from across the community (and the world) contribute as little as $25 to help fund it. When the loan is fully funded, the entrepreneur receives the capital and repays it over time. No interest. No hidden costs. Just people investing in people.

Gina, Julia, and Annie each used Kiva loans to take the next step in their businesses. Gina expanded her coffee inventory. Julia built out her enrichment center. Annie is funding the equipment that will take Addielee's from handmade batches to grocery shelves.

Their loans are fully funded. But there are more entrepreneurs in the Lowcountry who need the same kind of support.

Get Involved

Their Stories Don't End When the Credits Roll

You just watched what's possible when a community shows up for its entrepreneurs. Now you can be part of what happens next.

Watch

Share the film with someone who needs to see it. Every view spreads the word about what Lowcountry entrepreneurs are building.

Lend

Back an entrepreneur on Kiva with as little as $25. Your support is a 0% interest loan, not a donation, and when it's repaid, you can lend again.

Connect

Join the StrongerImpacts community to hear about upcoming events, new entrepreneur stories, and ways to support local business growth in Beaufort County.

let's connect

Inspired by Their Stories? Start Yours.

If you're a small business owner in the Lowcountry and you're looking for funding, mentorship, or just a starting point, we want to hear from you. StrongerImpacts connects entrepreneurs with the resources and community they need to take their next step.

Tell us a little about where you are, and we'll help you figure out where to go from here.

Get Involved

Strong communities are built together.

Whether you’re a business owner, nonprofit leader, volunteer, or neighbor who cares about Beaufort County, there is a place for you in this work.

“A fair economy doesn’t pick winners based on privilege. It opens doors for people with drive, vision, and grit, no matter their background.”

— Scott Songer, Co-Founder

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