church first and they'll see the pastor before they'll see a professional, and, of course, they'll take the whole family and the pastor is not skilled in the course of addiction and disease so it's very important also that the families get all the resources in the community and know about not only addiction but also mental health and how do i tap into those resources? well we are training- nacoa is going around the country training. it's called a nondenominational training program. we have some clergy guidelines as to what clergy can do. so there are resources, at least we're beginning to pay a little closer attention to the role of faith and everyone has faith initiatives that they're working on as well. but i want to get back to the whole experience of relapsing. in spite of all of this, there will be some individuals right, keith, that will relapse? absolutely. and what should the family do and what should the individual

do in the event that there is a relapse? i'm so glad you brought that up because i think the one element about recovery oriented systems of care we probably haven't talked about it's the recognition that these problems are chronic and not acute. so a lot of times the way we set up treatment in the united states, we treat it like a broken bone or something. you go to the hospital, i set your bone, then you're done and you're going to heal naturally. but the truth is that most people will relapse. take a very common experience, quitting smoking. most people who have succeeded quitting smoking failed six or seven times. those are people that have succeeded. you see that in alcohol, you see that with the other drugs. so what that means is that you should not feel dispirited, shamed that you had a relapse. it's a very, it's highly likely you'll have a relapse. that's the nature of the condition. and by the way, people that have heart problems have relapses. people that have back pain have relapses. that's what chronic medical disorders are like. they wax and they wane depending on how life is going. so for the family not to get dispirited and not to feel

hostile that the person has done this but just try to accept that this is a chronic illness and it doesn't mean, by the way, that you can't get mad. it's natural. if your spouse is addicted and treats you badly or treats your kids badly, of course, you're going to get mad, it's not to take away those feelings. but just to give you a way to understand this is what is going on. this is what millions of people have gone through. they've had relapses and many of those people go on and recover. so it's not-it's tough, but it's not the end of the world. in terms of the family, let's be honest, the family suffers, too. it's not just the person in recovery. many family members, all family members with the children, etc. suffer a great deal and i think the recovery supports need to include the family and i know like the 12-step al-anon and nar-anon are for family members. and for the children, ala-teen. right, ala-teen for the children and there was-during

the 1980s in california during the social model movement, alcohol recovery movement, back in the 1980s there was a wise man in the same county that leon panetta is that argued that if the whole country adopted al-anon principles, we all would be a lot better off in terms of actually helping people in recovery. that they're very constructive ways of helping, not capitulating but standing firm and helping, so i think the family needs to be seen as a group that suffers and needs their own recovery in and of themselves. i think that's accurate, but i think also sometimes they retreat and all of the shame comes back in-and

they've done something wrong and i think that's where it's so important to understand the nature of this illness. but also not to hide it. that a relapse can be a learning, very constructive experience for people to look at what they have maybe done wasn't helpful and both the individual and the family can look at how they can get back on track and i've had many people who have said "gee i really learned and it really expanded my recovery by going through that relapse." that doesn't mean, though, that it's necessary. and the family, sometimes they just don't know how to let go and it's time for treatment for my family member and we got a lot of family members that are very angry because they're tired of relapsing over and over and over again and i've been taking care of this person. and so now it's time for me to let a professional help. and a person will come back to the family because we know that

culturally, even latinos, i mean, they love their family. they're not going to let go of that family. they're going to go through the whole process with the family, but it's very important that they learn how to let go. and bev, getting back to all of this, i mean all of what we said is actually very on target in terms of helping individuals in recovery in the various programs. but you were speaking at one point about the broader community and the recovery month event that was held in pennsylvania. what is significant about that and why should other communities adopt that kind of effort? one, it's a validation that recovery is possible. so i think it really reframes for people what the possibility of recovery. i think it is an incredible opportunity for families to really celebrate recovery together and to validate the opportunity that they as a group have really made progress and

can support in a very tangible way recovery just like you do with other diseases and i think that it's so important for people to feel normal that here they are being part of something that is similar to what other diseases experience. i mean, there are other marches and walks and kinds of things and now their disease has that, too, so it's a wonderful experience. it's a very emotional experience for many people to get that kind of recognition. this year, for the first time, we had people lining the streets cheering the walkers and that was like a significant change from-our first walk had 100 people in it. you know, this was 11,000 people. and we frankly walked to ourselves and now having people on the curbs going down a main street in philadelphia proud of their recovery just is a huge reframe. and unless the public policy individuals-

absolutely. --elected officials, civic leaders know that there is a movement, there is a force. and it's really important that they are there. you know that public policy officials, people from samhsa, people from the governor's office, you know, are there, kind of recognizing the progress that people have made. very, very important. and i want to remind our audience that september is national recovery month and every individual in recovery, their families, their friends, and all the individuals in the community can get together, host events and activities to help celebrate those in recovery. thank you for being here. it was a great show. for a copy of this program or other programs in the road to recovery series, call samhsa at 1-800-662-help, or order online at recoverymonth.gov and click multimedia.

every september national recovery month provides an opportunity for communities like yours to raise awareness of substance use and mental health problems to highlight the effectiveness of treatment and that people can and do recover. in order to help you plan events and activities in commemoration of this year's recovery month observance, the free recovery month kit offers ideas, materials, and tools for planning, organizing, and realizing an event or outreach campaign that matches your goals and resources. to obtain your copy of this year's recovery month kit and gain access to other free publications and materials related to recovery issues, visit the recovery month web site at www.recoverymonth.gov or call 1-800-662-help

>> thank you for your patience. i m leader pelosi's district rector in san francisco. i've been with the for about nine years, and we are excited to put on this forum today to help people learn how they can access credit and capital for their small business. click background on some of what was accomplished in the last congress when later closing was speaker of the house. she had had 16 tax cuts signed into law to help small businesses grow and thrive. as we know, during the last 15

years, small businesses account for about 2/3 of the job growth in our country, but when the bush recession hits in 2009, 2010, small businesses were hit particularly hard. small businesses are the center of her agenda. congress under her leadership gave 27 million small businesses tax cuts. two main pieces of legislation -- the small businesses jobs act in the information you have, will create a total of 500,000 jobs and create eight tax cuts. they are all described in the packet you have. also, unleashing up to $300 billion in credit for small businesses to access. there are another eight tax cuts that were passed through a number of different laws. some of our panelists will address those. even though now we are in an

environment where there is a republican majority in the house and a slimmer majority in the senate, please note that the leader and democrats are going fight hard to keep their agenda and restart our economy, and there will be more work to be done. i would like to hand over the podium to nicole rivera, who put this together. she will introduce the panelists and go over some logistics. i want to point out quickly that we are being recorded by san francisco government tv. the camera in front is only aimed at the podium. it is not taking shots of the audience, only the podium for people who want to ask questions. so do not worry, you are not on tv if you do not want to be. >> thank you for your patience. i am a representative with leader pelosi, and i'm thrilled to have you today to learn more

of our best practices for accessing credit. it is a priority for our office. we are very well aware of how small businesses are running up against the wall right now in terms of trying to get the credit and loans they are looking for, so i will try hard to bring the brightest minds in this room so you can effectively fix their range and learn more about what you can do better to fix your business plan and what it is they are looking for. first of all, i will introduce everyone. mark quinn is the san francisco district director of the u.s. small business administration. the small business administration covers not only san francisco proper but the bay area. the severed his third district is responsible for a business loan portfolio of 12,000 loans worth $4.2 billion. in 2009, the sba approved $500

million in lending. next, we have the executive director of the san francisco small business office. she was in san francisco in 1986 to open the buffalo exchange limited store, and in the 13 years she worked for buffalo exchange, tennis district manager, she held her open the company from four to 11 stores. in 2009, the mayor appointed her as executive director to the office of small businesses. next, we have the ceo of opportunity funds. he has combined his background as a community organizer with an education from stanford to develop an innovative, not-for- profit financial incision that uses market principles to affect systemic change. it operates one of the nation's largest individual development, programs, a leading provider of micro loans in california, and has a robust community real

estate finance unit. next, we have the ceo of ne community federal credit union. since 1988, she has been the ceo of northwest community federal credit union. under her watch, the credit union group to over 1600 members. it has become the national model for institutions seeking to provide financial education and banking services to the low- income communities. last but not least, we have our conditional lender represented here by wells fargo. mark cyrus is the senior fda banker for the region -- the senior sba banker. he held businesses choose the best loans for the growing business and focus on a comprehensive understanding of their goals for their business. mark is responsible for helping entrepreneurs with sba loans

every step of the way. i would like each of you to speak a little bit about what your organization does and, more importantly, address the audience here and let them know what your looking for when you are hoping to fund their loan. we will start with you, mark. >> absolutely. thank you. i want to thank speaker pelosi for putting this together. i want to thank all of the of for coming out on a smell it -- snowy san francisco date. [laughter] we've been told we should get us know when we go back outside. not sure what to expect. second, i thank speaker pelosi for all the work she did to support the jobs act and before that, the stimulus bill, the original american recovery act bill that allows sba to be able to besba landing more available

to small businesses. very important piece of our tools that we have in this really very difficult time for small businesses to get access to credit. finally, i want to find the rest of the folks here, my colleagues on the panel. it is the case that sba works with these organizations to try to help small businesses understand how to get credit and fine tools to be able to do that. sba programs cover a wide range, and i will talk about this range of lending and the kinds of things we do, but in many ways, we do not do it alone. we do it with partners, and that is the takeaway message, the sba lending activity, while would guarantee loans through a number of lenders, we do it with a lot of other partners as well. let me give a little bit of a sense of what the small business administration does and is.

we in san francisco covered the bay area and north coast counties, and we do a variety of things. i will come back to the credit card because i know that is what this session is about, but before i do that, there's two other roles we play that are important as well. one is about helping small businesses understand how to start businesses, getting good technical assistance, getting good advice about starting and managing your business. equally important is being prepared for credit. one of the things we tried to do is work with small businesses to understand how to be ready for credit. a lot of that is helping folks that are interested in starting a business understand how to develop a business plan, how to get good advice about starting and managing a business. we see a lot of small businesses interested in starting a business, and they have a talent or skill or craft, and they know what they want to do, but they really need to structure a rounded to do it.

part of what they need, through partners, through score, through our business centers that we have in san francisco, and through the small business development center we also have here, really help small businesses understand how to get started in business, how to develop business plans, how to be able to put yourself in a position of planning for your business as much as running your business. a big part of what we do is the technical assistance and counseling work we do for folks interested in starting a business or those in the early stages who really need advice about where to go when you run into the wall, about financing, marketing, managing your business. that is an important role we play as well. another role we play is helping small businesses understand how to do contract thing, particularly with the federal government, but in a more general way, with all the public sector players. one of the things that small businesses always need is customers. one of the big customers out there is the public sector, but

one of the challenges is the public sector on every level, federal, state, and local, are always difficult for small businesses to understand how to navigate the process of getting certified to do business, finding the right sources to be able to talk to and understand how to navigate getting into the contract thing rolls with public sectors, so we try to help small businesses understand that, and we partner with a lot of organizations -- the city, the state of california, and now federal agencies, to be able to take advantage of a huge buying opportunity for small businesses, but one that they find very intimidating. sometimes it takes too long. it is too complicated. for real red tape of process is something less certainly exists with small businesses try to get into public contracts the work. those are two roles we play, separate from the access to credit roll. on the financing side, sba plays

a role across a wide spectrum in terms of who we partner with and what kinds of loans sba is able to guarantee. we are not a direct lender or guarantee lender. we have a couple of program he says, just to give you a sense, and i will let eric talk about the microlending side, but we have a microloan program to deal with the early stage client looking for a small loan under $50,000, down to, really, $10,000. for those businesses that are not viable in any real way but have a great idea, have some abilities to show that they have a good plan and really need to be able to get some early stage financing. that is kind of a non- traditional source of capital that exists out there. the main sba programs are guaranteed loan programs, and we act essentially as a guarantor, insuring the bank that if you make a loan to a small business, the business is not able to pay

the loan, the sba will pay the bank a share of that long, typically 75% or 80%. a bank like wells fargo, for example, which is the largest sba lender in the country. when the lender makes the loan to you, they come to us and say that your business, for a variety of reasons, may not be strong enough to get a loan without a guarantee. it might be a business that is too young or is a type of business -- say, restaurants -- that are a little riskier than they want to deal with, or you do not have the kind of collateral a lender is looking for. "an sba lender will be able to make the loan with a guarantee that sba will be able to provide. we probably will about 225 sba loans this year. at any point in time, we have about 1500 loans in san francisco that are sba loans. a lot of them are restaurants

because that is one of the areas that is very typical because it is a riskier business. but a lot of people in san francisco see that as an opportunity for them as well. we also partner with the golden gate restaurant association to help people understand how to do financing for restaurants. a lot of what we do is helping small businesses get access to credit. the sba loan program covers a range of small loans down to $25,000 and large loans up to $5 million, so it is a very wide range. can be used for a variety of uses -- debt refinancing, building acquisition, working capital, so it can be used for a wide range of things from a small business point of view. as you heard, we do guarantees for about 90 or 100 banks in the country -- or in the bay area. about 3000 nationwide. there is a lot of lenders that do some sba lending.

first thing you want to do is deal with the bank. if they are not able to make the loan by themselves, then go to our website, which is www. sba.gov, and look for the local page to see the local san francisco financing sources. but before you do that, the takeaway message here is that before you go to a bank, make sure you are cleared to do that. you do not want to go to a bank looking for financing for your business and ask them a question that will immediately give them a sense that you are not ready. you go to a bank and say, "how much can i borrow?" they will tell you, "i do not know, but probably not from us." you need to know exactly what you're looking for, how you are going to use the money, and how

you will be paid the bank. part of the process is make sure you are prepared. the first thing you need to do is take a advantage of the resources that can help you develop your business plan and really be prepared to go to a lender. being able to answer the questions you know that they will be asking is part of what we do as well. i'm sure we will have lots of time for questions, but i will send it back to you. >> director of the office of small business with the city and county of san francisco. again, i also want to thank congresswoman pelosi for hosting this event, and with her staff, and her leadership around all the work she has done supporting small businesses. because she comes from san francisco, and, by our definition, is small business is a business with under 100 employees. that is almost 85% of all businesses in the city. because she is from here, she really understands what small

businesses are about, and she articulates your needs in washington, d.c. in may 2008, san francisco opened the office of small business, under the leadership of gavin newsom, under the urging of our small business leaders. the mayor heard there was a need for the community to have a small office to help the needs of our small businesses in san francisco, help them understand and navigate the complex structure in getting a business opened within the city and county of san francisco. initially, primarily, we were going to be about helping you understand licensing and permitting requirements, but, really, shortly after we open our doors, we understood that we were also, as a government entity, a place for people to come when they want to know

about loans, about writing a business plan. where to go to do that, where to go to get assistance. we are also a resourced. when we do see people in our office, many of them are a year or two out from even opening their business, so we will ask them what their credits for is, have they done their business plans, do they know what they're capital needs are going to be, how much money they have, how much money they are going to need to open their business. based upon those questions, we will direct them to the sba for workshops, courses. there is other entities that also provide workshop courses score as well in terms of helping to write business plans. also helping to educate the

distinction between the micro lender, our bank, and our larger financial institutions and how those lending -- what is the difference in how this entities will lend, in addition to the sba loans that are available. also in response to the economic crisis, which hit a couple of months after we open our doors, the mayor reinstated the revolving loan fund, and we partnered with tmc working solutions, which is a micro lender, to provide a loan fund for start of an existing businesses to help them. today, that loan has given out 23 loans, and they are averaging around $15,000 or $25,000 each. another unique thing that the city is doing in terms of helping our businesses and dealing with capital needs is as

a city, sometimes, we implement regulations, and you would think that might require some substantial capital for small businesses to do an understanding that a lot of our very small businesses may not have the capital means to be able to implement those regulations. a new one that has just been implemented is there is the fats, oils, and greece requirements that restaurants are going to need to have for their restaurants, and many businesses may have to install new equipment -- fats, oils, and grease. we parted with opportunity loan fund to help provide a specific program for this new regulation for businesses, and we have also had many businesses experience some drive-by lawsuits, and understanding some of the financial needs in

dealing with the losses, making the 88 improvements. again, we partnered with opportunity loan funds to help businesses comply and to deal with their legal needs and with these losses. also, we held businesses understand, if you want to do business with the city and county of san francisco, while we do not regulate that, that is not within our office, but we hope you through the process, and connect with the city agencies who are doing the programs, what we classify as an lbe, we are only able to classify as a small business, but not a minority or woman- owned business.