The project

Gloria Cruz is a mother of three and worked as a staff member in a plywood manufacturing plant for 3 years. Nene, as her friends call her, founded AlberGlo in 2002, which started as a distributor for small garment factories. Nene obtained products from large factories and distributed these to small garment factories. When her husband was working in Mindanao, she bought 1 sewing machine to start making apparels in order to sell them. At first, Nene was unsure about the new venture as she was just an elementary graduate and had no experience in sewing. But, highly determined to succeed, she followed through to offer her children a better way of life than she experienced herself as a child that grew up in poverty.

After a while, an elder with no family of his own approached Gloria and pledged his support to the business. She gladly took him in, which was for the better, as they turned out to be close friends and he was an excellent business partners. The business grew vastly, from employing one seamstress to well over twenty. Currently, AlberGlo employs twenty-seven seamstresses housing and manufactures high-end apparels for fashion stores. All employees are elementary graduates and are given fair and legal compensation and free meals. For some employees and their families, Gloria even offers free housing. With 2 of Nene's daughters managing AlberGlo, Nene plans to nearly double Albergo’s number of employees in the coming years.

Together with local partner's NPFC, Lendahand supports Gloria in her mission to expand her business and employ more workers by providing additional working capital to boost production. The loan will be repaid in 12 months.