 Last year, Angel Matthews made some “exciting and terrifying” changes in her life with the assistance of Pikes Peak Community Action Agency’s bridge programs to self-sufficiency – Transitions to Independence (TIP) and Save Up to Step Out Individual Development Accounts (IDA).
Angel, a 37-year old single parent of a seven-year-old boy, started a cleaning business combining environmental stewardship and savvy marketing – “Green Clean by an Angel.” Using non-toxic products to promote both environmental health and allergy prevention, Angel built her clientele from zero to 12 – just 8 short of her six-month goal of 20 – in only two months.
Angel found a niche in the cleaning industry: “I don’t like using those kinds of products that make you want to pass out. I didn’t want my own son breathing in all that stuff – why would anyone else?”
“I needed to figure out a way to get off the State, to stand on my own two feet and to do it all myself without someone else always telling me what to do. TIP helped me start to imagine new possibilities. IDA is helping me make them a reality.”
Her business, she said, allows her to blend her heart-felt desire to be self-sufficient with her commitment to community service: “I am focusing on Green Clean as a business, but also as a way to raise awareness in our community about the environment, about our surroundings.”
Angel came to PPCAA with a background working in retail management, but the demands of single parenthood meant she needed more flexibility. “My world has to be able to revolve around him,” she said. “I’d been working for a family for five years – doing everything from cleaning, to nanny duties, to dog care and laundry, earning about $1,000 a month. Last year, I began to think, ‘What else can I do? It is really time for me to do something else.”
Angel was highly motivated by her goal to become self-sufficient in order to strengthen both her personal and professional dignity. “I needed to figure out a way to get off the State, to stand on my own two feet and to do it all myself without someone always telling me what to do.”
Angel enrolled in both TIP and IDA. She saved $1,000 and received a $3,000 match through IDA – for a total of $4,000. She invested the funds in a supply of environmentally safe cleaning products, in fees for things like bonding and insurance, and in networking organization memberships as well as in preliminary marketing. She received management, small business initiation and financial training through TIP and IDA, and through referrals to other community agencies. “TIP helped me start to imagine new possibilities. IDA is helping me make them a reality.”
One of Angel’s first clients was a 92-year old woman who had broken her hip meaning the house went unattended for a long period of time during recovery. Angel spent 11 hours cleaning to make the woman’s home spic and span clean. “She was so happy when she came home,” Angel said. “Her granddaughter was so worried that when she came home, she might get sick. But the granddaughter said she didn’t get sick because the house was so incredibly clean. You see, when you use the right products, it really works.”
Angel helps the majority of her clients’ lives run more smoothly. “When I go to someone’s house and I clean, I think about how they are going to feel great when they come home, and that makes me very happy. They can come home and concentrate on their babies and their spouses. Most of the families I clean for are always just trying to catch up with everything. I feel good about what I do.” She hasn’t lost a client yet.
Angel’s sense of herself has also been transformed. “I’m so excited. I’ve started to look at myself and think that I need to take better care of myself. I need to work out, and take good care of my health and my nutrition. I need a suit. It’s possible for me to think about going shopping for myself for the first time in a long time. I’ve begun to think, ‘Maybe it is time I started to like myself a little bit more.’ As a single mom, you know, you don’t have a lot of time or resources to think about yourself in this way.”
As for her impressions of PPCAA, Angel was succinct: “Wonderful. I believe you have to be around positive people and places, people who don’t put any ‘can’ts’ or ‘ifs’ in your way. I found very positive people at PPCAA.”
PPCAA helped Angel find a mentor – dynamic Colorado Springs businesswoman Dina Manzanares, proprietor of The Manzanares Group, Inc., a human resource and recruiting provider with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to mid-sized ventures and small start-ups. At an introductory lunch arranged by PPCAA’s Director of Development, Leslie Wirpsa, the synergy between Angel and Dina was infectious. Within an hour, Dina had already walked Angel through a brainstorm regarding brochures, website design, networking affiliations and accounting strategies. The two women agreed to meet twice-a-month. “Sometimes I just need someone to run things by, to ask, ‘Does this work?’ I’m so excited!” Angel told Dina.
Angel plans to enroll for a second time in IDA to save for a first time home purchase. The home would double as a daycare center.
“Most weekends, I have five or six kids visiting my house. I have a gift with children. Starting a daycare is my next dream.”
Analysts predict that with the influx of troops and their families given the Fort Carson expansion, the Pikes Peak Region will soon need childcare services for at least an additional 6,000 little ones. If she continues at her present pace, Angel will be at the cusp of an expanding industry essential to helping Colorado Springs grow with dignity. | 
