NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- OnDeck® (NYSE:
ONDK), the leader in online lending to small business, today
announced that Meadowlark Home Care of Oak Park, Michigan has been selected as the
OnDeck Small Business of the Month for September 2018. The home care service is the
first small business in the State of
Michigan to earn the OnDeck customer spotlight award.
DeVoughn Owens founded Meadowlark
Home Care in 1997 after a long career as an intensive care nurse in
the Detroit area and more than 20
years of service in the Air Force Air National Guard. Her nursing
career prompted her interest in starting a group home business to
care for individuals with special needs. Initially, she explored
residences in Detroit, but most
were not eligible to be grandfathered in for use as group homes,
which would have been more cost effective to launch the business.
Ultimately, DeVoughn took a leap of faith and decided to transform
her own home into a group home. By October
1997, she was licensed and Meadowlark Home Care was up and
running.
Today, Meadowlark Home Care operates two group homes in
Oak Park and Southfield, Michigan and employs 14
caregivers. The business specializes in home care services for
patients with mental illness, dementia, and developmental
disabilities.
"Our goal at Meadowlark is to meet the mental, physical, and
spiritual needs of all of our patients," says DeVoughn. "We have
strong relationships with agencies such as Macomb Oakland Regional
Center (MORC), Easter Seals, Oakland
Community Health Network (OCHN) and the families of the individuals
that we provide services for. Once we get to know each other and
they are able to see how the clients' progress and how comfortable
they are with our services, a level of trust is established. My
vision is to treat people like they are my own family."
Meadowlark Home Care has now been in business for more than
twenty years, but as DeVoughn relates, obtaining financing to grow
was not always easy. In 2017, she was denied for a loan from a
local bank who said her debt ratio was too high.
"It came as a shock to me because I had banked with the
institution for so long, and they knew the strength of the business
and how much capital I had," says DeVoughn. "It was very
frustrating. I began to look around for alternative financing
online and was referred to OnDeck."
DeVoughn received a term loan and a line of credit from OnDeck
in 2017 and now uses them to sustain her business when there are
unforeseen vacancies in the group homes.
"Any business owner knows that your revenues can change over a
period of time, but expenses do not. So how do you meet the
expenses when the revenue goes down? You need to borrow a little
until you fill that vacancy so you can keep paying your bills, make
payroll and address all the other items," says DeVoughn. "It's
smart business. I thank God for OnDeck because they were willing to
give me a chance when no other lender would. I will always be
grateful and thankful for OnDeck."
"DeVoughn Owens is the embodiment
of a hardworking small business owner whose efforts directly
benefit others," says Andrea
Gellert, Chief Revenue Officer, OnDeck. "In every successful
small business, you will find someone who has made a courageous
decision. In DeVoughn's case, that mean literally opening up her
own home to help and care for those in need. We are proud to play a
small part in supporting the crucial and inspiring work of DeVoughn
and her staff at Meadowlark Home Care."
The Small Business Spotlight series from OnDeck is designed to
highlight and reinforce the vital importance of small businesses.
Every month, OnDeck spotlights the achievements of its small
business customers and how they are thriving as a result of
receiving capital from OnDeck. To learn more about DeVoughn Owen's small business journey visit:
http://www.ondeck.com/smallbusinessspotlight
About OnDeck
OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK) is the proven leader in transparent and
responsible online lending to small business. Founded in 2006, the
company pioneered the use of data analytics and technology to make
real-time lending decisions and deliver capital rapidly to small
businesses. Today, OnDeck offers a wide range of online term
loans and lines of credit customized for the needs of small
business owners. It also offers a comprehensive technology
and services platform that facilitates online lending to small
business customers at some of the world's largest banks. OnDeck has
provided over $10 billion in loans to customers in 700
different industries across the United
States, Canada and Australia. The company has an A+
rating with the Better Business Bureau and is rated 5 stars by
Trustpilot. For more information, visit www.ondeck.com.
OnDeck, the OnDeck logo, OnDeck Score and
OnDeck Marketplace are trademarks of On Deck
Capital, Inc.
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SOURCE On Deck Capital, Inc.