B-Bop Center: Women Helping Women in the Inland Empire
Source:The IE Voice
It did not matter that it was raining during the grand opening of the Black and Brown Opportunities for Profit (B-BOP) Center. The community showed up in large numbers to express their support.
The B-BOP Center is a 10,000-square-foot building in San Bernardino to help end racial and gender inequality in entrepreneurship in the Inland Empire.
The center has 14 rooms, a cafeteria, shared workspaces, a child care center, a quick-pitch room, and a legal guidance room.
According to the State of Women in The Inland Empire Report, Black women make 60 cents for every dollar a White male earns. The gap is more significant for Hispanic women; they make 42 cents for every dollar a White male earns.
“Within our programs and services, we’ve always had an entrepreneurship component to the work that we do, especially for women of color and those who have experienced discrimination due to being a woman of color or even having felony convictions,” said Vanessa Perez, Executive Director of Time For Change Foundation.
Perez said the vision for this project came to her in 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
Businesses were shut down, and mothers, especially single mothers, struggled to make ends meet and had to find ways to provide for their children.
“We wanted to make sure that Black and brown women have access to the tools and the resources they need to create, build, grow, and scale successful businesses,” Perez said.
Originally Published by The IE Voice
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