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My name is Maria Mendez. I am 26 years old. I'm from Xalapa Veracruz, Mexico and now Little Village in Chicago. For many personal reasons, my 2-year-old citizen-born daughter, my citizen-born husband and my undocumented parents are my inspiration to begin this journey as a social entrepreneur. What is an entrepreneur? To me, this is an unfamiliar word. Being undocumented I have lived in the shadows and have had very limited opportunities. The thought of being an entrepreneur never even crossed my mind. As undocumented immigrants, my parents and I have years of experience selling tamales as “street vendors” but until this new ordinance in the City of Chicago we were just “street vendors”. The hard work and dedication I have demonstrated has made my formal business the city’s first legitimate licensed “Mobile Prepared Food Vendor.” I am now a proud Latina business owner trying to make a social change.
I believe that street vendors contribute a rich culinary culture by selling tamales, elotes or fruit with chile sal y limon, atole y champurrado, duritas, aguas frescas, and raspados. My motivation comes experienced first-hand the difficulty of starting my own business and applying for licenses at City Hall without the proper guidance.
I want other people to have peace of mind and feel the liberty of being able to sell food without being harassed by police. With the success of this project I will prepare others to step forward into the formal economy with hard working Latino undocumented business owners like myself who come to this country for a chance to build a better life and contribute to society.
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