Homero Piña's Story
Homero Piña was born in Michoacán Mexico. In search of a better life, he immigrated to Chicago in 1990. When he first arrived, he found it difficult to find a job. Desperate to start earning money, he took on his first job selling “paletas,” or ice cream popsicles, from a street cart. After a year, Mr. Piña was hired by a local painting business. Fast forward to 2008, Mr. Piña was a successful painter, earning top pay in the same painting firm, and very much respected by the owner and his colleagues.
Then, overnight, Mr. Piña found himself one of the many casualties of the financial crisis, without a job. He wasn’t sure where he was going to find his next opportunity and took the decision to go into business for himself. In 2009 Mr. Piña opened Piña Paint Experts Inc. He has been able to successfully grow this business, and slowly started hiring additional employees as the company grew.
After 10 years of owning his painting business, Mr. Piña has decided to venture into a new industry. With a small business loan from Second Federal, a Division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, Mr. Piña has identified a neighborhood grocery store that has been serving the Brighton Park community since 1991 – Supermercado La Palma. The current owners are retiring, and Mr. Piña wanted to ensure the store would continue to serve the community as it has for over 27 years, providing access to healthy food in a neighborhood where the median income is $36,000 and over a quarter of the residents are living in poverty.
Mr. Piña is looking forward to his new endeavor and we are glad to give him the opportunity to do so.