Detroit, MI (March 2026) - When Ken Nixon was released from prison after more than 15 years of wrongful incarceration, he didn't waste time looking back. He looked at his city, saw a gap, and decided to fill it.

Returning citizens needed safe, stable housing… the kind landlords weren't offering, the kind that didn't come with judgment. So Ken bought a building. Then he got to work.

He had QuickBooks. He had projections. He had a vision clear enough to move anyone who heard it. What he didn't have was a specialized accountant who understood the nuances of real estate development, the kind of infrastructure support that can mean the difference between a business that survives and one that truly scales. That's where ProsperUs Detroit came in.

ProsperUs is a Black-led Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that has spent more than a decade providing microloans and wraparound support to entrepreneurs in Detroit's most under-resourced communities. The organization serves business owners who face systemic barriers to traditional lending: immigrants, returning citizens, low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs of color. In 2024 alone, it approved 81 loans totaling over $2.4 million in capital. Of all CDFI microloans made in Detroit that year, ProsperUs represented 77%.

But Paul Jones, ProsperUs CEO, has long believed that the loan is only the beginning.

"The misconception is that the outcome we should be striving for is just getting people access to capital," he said. "But people need capital because there is something else they need, and having the resources to look underneath the hood and say, here's your funding, and here's how we make sure you use it productively… that's where the real work is."

With support from the Walters Family Foundation, ProsperUs is doing exactly that. The grant is funding one-on-one technical assistance for 20 entrepreneurs who have secured (or are preparing to secure) a microloan but fall outside the Small Business Administration’s loan eligibility. These are the clients who often face the greatest barriers and need the most tailored support: help with accounting systems, marketing, operations, legal questions, strategic planning. ProsperUs connects them with a curated network of coaches and consultants who combine professional expertise with cultural humility, many of them entrepreneurs themselves.

For Ken, that meant a real estate accountant… not a generic one, but someone specifically equipped to help him understand his business from the inside out. The results were transformative. His systems strengthened. His confidence grew. Today he runs a company providing reentry housing for formerly incarcerated people, giving them the safe foundation he knows firsthand can change the trajectory of a life. "Safe housing is literally the foundation to success," Ken has said. "And when I did run into a problem, ProsperUs helped me find solutions. They talked me through what other people would have neglected or chosen not to help me with."

That kind of support ripples outward. For every $15,000 in loans ProsperUs deploys, a new job is created in a low-to-moderate income community. Nine in ten borrowers report greater financial independence, and more than a quarter have achieved greater housing stability.

"In another environment," Jones reflected, "even large amounts of capital might not change many lives. But with people like this, who have no alternatives, it's transformational."

The Walters Family Foundation's investment isn't just funding technical assistance. It's funding what comes after the loan: the infrastructure, the coaching, the belief that entrepreneurs from every background deserve a genuine shot at building something lasting. For Ken Nixon and others walking that same road, that support isn't a safety net. It's a launchpad.