Support Albita's Tailoring Shop
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Photo credit: Staff Photo/Dan Little, Greenfield Recorder
Albita’s Tailoring Shop, in Turner’s Falls, MA, is an integral part of our community’s fabric. Yet, like many small businesses, Albita’s is facing challenges.
While owners Alba and Antonio work to uphold their legacy, the pandemic has left them burdened by usurious loans.
Read Alba’s story here.
Join Common Good and Equity Trust to help relieve the weight of these loans in any of three ways:
1. Donate to Albita's
Your contribution, no matter the size, can make a significant impact. Donate Now
2. Participate in a Loan to Albita's
Join us by participating in a zero percent loan to Albita’s through Common Good. With a commitment to community, this option allows you to contribute to Albita’s stability and growth over approximately five years. If you are not yet a member, you will need to begin by signing up for a free Common Good account.
3. Shop at Albita's
Take your garments to Albita’s for alteration or repair. Pay with Common Good!
Alba's Story
“Growing up, I lived with my family in the Colombian countryside. We suffered a lot because there were many guerrillas in our area and they recruited young people for the war. I was raised in the midst of intense violence. Since people were regularly killed where we lived, my parents decided to move to the city in search of a better life. However, our life was not easy there either, because in the city of Medellin there was also a lot of violence–many died from bombs, and many police and civil servants were killed.
When I was still a girl, I watched my older sisters hand-stitch clothing for their dolls, and by 12 years old I was designing and sewing doll clothes. When I was 19, a friend taught me how to use industrial sewing machines to make clothing. I really liked it. I began to work in large clothing companies on industrial machines.
Unfortunately, sewing work is very poorly paid in my country. When my two children were born, I couldn’t earn enough to pay for their studies and our basic needs. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to come to the US. I had to leave my children, but I came with the goal of improving the quality of life for myself and my children.
I met my husband, Antonio, here in Massachusetts, and in November of 2019 we decided to follow my dream and opened our business. With Albita’s, my hope was to offer people a place where they could have their clothes made exactly how they wanted. Seeing my customers’ happy faces filled me with satisfaction, and the business opened a way to earn enough to pay for my children’s schooling and expenses back in Colombia.
However, we had very bad luck. The pandemic began just four months after we opened and we had to close down temporarily for people’s safety. I also became ill and could not work during this time. We knew we didn’t want to lose our business, so we kept it going despite these hardships, but we took on debt.
Now it is 2023. We have a beautiful business. We have many wonderful customers and we love offering our services to our community. We are very passionate about our work. However, along with our joy, we are very stressed. We are burdened with the debt that we took on to survive the pandemic, and the loans have very very high interest rates. We pay a lot each month, but none of it goes to paying off the principal because the interest is so high. Our hope is that we can get out from under this crushing debt so that we can follow our dream of contributing to the community and helping our families.”
– Alba Agudelo, co-owner of Albita’s Tailoring Shop