BOSTON and JACKSON, MISS. — ACCION USA, a private, nonprofit organization that provides financial services to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, and Hope Community Credit Union have come together to start a disaster relief business loan program.

The effort will assist small and micro businesses still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina, according to ACCION. The Back to Business Loan Fund is eligible to businesses across the spectrum: formal or informal, licensed or unlicensed, and based in homes, offices, storefronts or marketplaces. Business owners are eligible for loans from $2,000 to $25,000, with an 8% interest rate and with terms from two to 60 months. ACCION USA's work with Hope Community CU will focus on the Biloxi and New Orleans offices.

The loan fund has already helped David DeSean, whose taxi business in Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., was wiped out in one day, ACCION said. After a year of struggling to re-open his business, DeSean was approved for a $10,000 loan to purchase a car, a meter, and to cover the licensing costs for his taxi.