Capital Good Fund (“Good Fund”) is a nonprofit, U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution that helps people fix their finances, offering small loans and personalized Financial Coaching to families in Rhode Island, Florida, Massachusetts, and Delaware. With more than 25 passionate and dedicated employees, many of whom are bilingual (English and Spanish), they are well-positioned to meet the needs of the community.
Good Fund currently offers a variety of loan products and financial services for those with less than perfect credit or no credit at all. These loans including immigration loans, personal loans, and auto loans. In addition, for a limited-time Good Fund is offering interest-free loans to those who have relocated from Puerto Rico and the USVI after Hurricane Maria. Please visit capitalgoodfund.org for a full list of our loans and services.
Good Fund was founded in February 2009 by current CEO, Andy Posner, while he was completing his Master of Arts in Environmental Studies at Brown University. After reading Banker to the Poor by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Posner realized that legitimate financial services could help bring about true change and start the process of unraveling the cycle of poverty, which still plagues many communities.
The Osceola Resort Area Council invited their whole membership, and members of the public, to an open meeting on Tuesday, June 18 at Ramada Kissimmee Gateway. Representatives from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office were present to share tips on staying safe in the corridor and the tourism industry as part of ORAC’s second ever Tourism Safety “In the Know” Seminar.
Here’s a summary of what was learned about identifying signs of human trafficking, safeguarding against credit card fraud, and protecting your business from vulnerabilities.
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. It can also be known as modern day slavery. There are two types of trafficking:
Trafficking s a hidden crime. Sadly, we may not recognize the signs even when it’s happening right in front of us. As reported by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), there were a total of2,133 reports of human trafficking maltreatments for state fiscal year2017-2018. The top business venue for labor trafficking is agriculture and the top venue for sex trafficking is hotels and motels. (Note: these are two of Osceola County’s top industries.)
Want to help? Be aware, ask questions, and alert law enforcement. Major indicators of human trafficking can be observed in hotel lobbies, at reservations desks, at hotel check-in, by house keeping, and in restaurants and bars.
Below are potential signs of human trafficking that you and your staff should be cognizant of.
In addition to the shattered lives and trauma that result from human trafficking, businesses can be negatively affected when human trafficking is found on their premises. A loss of reputation, additional security concerns, and liability risks are all to be considered as probable side-effects of human trafficking.
Credit Card Fraud
Credit card fraud can be very tricky. It can be quite difficult to prove. Here are some precautions advised by law enforcement when accepting credit card payments for hotel reservations. Remember, businesses should be sure to get a BRC (business record identification) to authenticate any video or documents you provide to law enforcement in a fraud case:
Other suggestions from law enforcement to guard against fraud include:
Finally, here are some tips for everyday life:
Business Security Surveys
In the tourism industry, as in any industry, first impressions matter. Businesses must keep their appearances appealing to attract happy, honest customers, and to dissuade criminals.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office provides business security surveys to businesses within the County. A business security survey takes about an hour (in most cases), and provides a proprietor with both an analysis of potential security risks to their facility and operations, and recommended improvements.
Benefits of a business security survey include:
Business owners, operators, and managers must not give criminals the opportunity to commit wrongdoings. There are ways to prevent and avoid bad situations. One of these is Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design(CPTED). CPTED is the proper design and effective use of the built environment to help decrease a criminal’s ability to commit a crime, or increase the chance that the crime will be seen and reported.
To schedule a business security survey contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Community Services Unit at 407-348-1190.
ORAC is grateful to the Sheriff’s Office and Department of Corrections for sharing their expertise with us, and to Ramada Gateway for being an excellent host. This event was sponsored by the following tourism industry partners: Experience Kissimmee, Old Town Kissimmee, Magic Development, West 192 Development Authority, Kenney Communications, Medieval Times, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, and Wild Florida.
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Amanda Hidalgo contributed to this blog post.
Chamber Chairman Rob Rosen joined members of the Osceola Resort Area Council Board of Directors at their general membership event on June 18 as they honored Back the Blue Award winners from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office for the months of January, February, & March.
Chairman Rosen announced the Chamber’s Back the Blue initiative at the Annual Meeting in February. Each month this initiative will award two local law enforcement officers – one from the Kissimmee Police Department and one from the Sheriff’s Office – for their outstanding contributions to keeping our community safe. “A business community starts with safety; without a safe community there is no business community,” said Chairman Rosen. Each award recipient receives a specially designed “challenge coin,” and a prize packet contributed by members of the Downtown Kissimmee and Osceola Resort Area Councils.
While the Downtown Kissimmee Area Council has partnered with Chairman Rosen to help honor award winners from KPD, ORAC has taken it upon themselves to help award the Sheriff’s Department’s finest each month. In April they presented Deputy Heather Collins, a school resource officer at Boggy Creek Elementary, with the first award. At their general membership/Tourism Safety Seminar event on Tuesday, June 18 they took the opportunity to back track and honor winners from January, February, and March.
For the month of January, the Back the Blue award went to Deputy Sheriff Chris Hall for his ambition and dedication to protect the citizens of Osceola County. He wasre cognized for the successful prosecution of a violent gang member who had a hidden firearm in an unknown location. On August 12, 2018, he responded to a call pertaining to an aggravated assault involving a gang member and his significant other. By using verbal commands, Deputy Hall then detained the gang member and his significant other and began to investigate the location of the firearm. Deputy Hall’s persistence in locating the firearm and in securing the protection of the citizens ensured the arrest of the gang member.
The Back the Blue award for February is contentedly awarded to Community Service Officer Jessica Mojica for continuously demonstrating maximum effort in her duties. Along with her general tasks of writing out of county reports, contacting victims, and forwarding reports to outside agencies, she frequently surpasses expectations. Throughout the year of 2018, she cleared 70% of her assigned cases while simultaneously assisting other detectives with their cases. Being the only member of her unit to speak fluent Spanish, she has taken on the lead role in Spanish-language fraud presentations to the community. CSO Mojica hass hown her commitment and dedication to the community and is highly recognized for her achievements.
The March recipient is Detective James Forgey for his dedication to his work and his persistence in keeping Osceola County safe. He is recognized for his skills in investigating and upending a local commercial burglary threat. In January, he made an enormous effort to identify two suspects who had stolen from a local Wal-Mart. Detective Forgey made it possible to track down the criminals because of his hard work and ability to work with others. His continued ambition to help the community has led to the prosecution of several criminals. The community is safer because of his efforts.
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Amanda Hidalgo contributed to this blog post.
