Cleaning for Community
Isaac Fincher, 29, and his siblings are proud products the city’s South side. They went to Prince Chapman Academy, then to South Side High School. “We grew up in the church,” Fincher says, noting that his father, Isaac R. Fincher, was and still is a pastor, now at the Eleventh Missionary Baptist Church in the […]
Isaac Fincher, 29, and his siblings are proud products the city’s South side. They went to Prince Chapman Academy, then to South Side High School.
“We grew up in the church,” Fincher says, noting that his father, Isaac R. Fincher, was and still is a pastor, now at the Eleventh Missionary Baptist Church in the 46806 zip code of Southeast Fort Wayne.
“He always instilled in us certain values, like integrity,” Fincher says of his father.
Growing up, he remembers volunteering with his church by picking up litter around the neighborhood. It was acts of service like these and his father’s teachings that initially inspired Fincher to become an entrepreneur.
“In entrepreneurship, you don’t know the outcome,” he says. “You got to have a faith-based mentality. Having that mentality keeps me thriving and striving and improving my business.”
In late-2019, Fincher founded Clean Lot Solutions LLC, a business offering litter pick-up, line striping, and commercial landscaping services based on the South side of town.
Along with putting his father’s teachings into practice, Fincher’s business provides a tangible way for him to give back to the people and neighborhoods where he grew up and improve them for future generations.
“Being from the South side of Fort Wayne, it was important to take care of this side of town,” he says. “Since I was born and raised here, I’ve seen different businesses come and go. I feel that it’s important to keep this side of town maintained and cleaned, so it can flourish.”
As his business expands, Fincher is accepting clients across the city, but how he started and grew Cleaning Lot Solutions is rooted in the South side community, too.
When he was tired of traveling all the time for his previous job, he knew he wanted to start his own business; he just didn’t know what it would be. While he was telling the owner of the Sankofa Village Center, at the corner of McKinnie Ave. and South Anthony Blvd., about his idea for a litter pickup service, they hired him for the job.
Fincher started off doing litter pickup there Monday through Saturday. The owner allowed him to try his hand at line striping parking lots and landscaping there, as well. These skills added to Fincher’s portfolio and inspired him to take “a more professional approach” to his work.
After landing a year-long contract with the Sankofa Village Center, Fincher applied to SEED Fort Wayne’s Build Institute Program on the South side, a nine-week basic business education course for early-stage business builders, primarily those who are women or People of Color.
Fincher says being involved with the program’s cohort-style community of support, connections, and knowledge gave him the motivation and information he needed to make his business a sustainable career. Now, he has multiple clients and plans for expansion.