The Story · The Founder · The Organization
It started with a dog named Yaroo.
Three moments in one April taught us the same lesson: for working people, the distance between “fine” and “desperate” is one estimate. VIGA is the bridge we wished existed that month.
The three moments · April 2026
Same month. Same lesson. Three faces.
🐕 Yaroo
A beloved dog, an emergency, and a waiting-room estimate that nearly decided his life on the spot. The medicine existed. The number was the obstacle. That waiting room is where PETWELLSOON was born.
✈️ Flora
A family friend facing a travel emergency — a real, urgent, one-time need — with every “solution” on offer charging predatory interest for the privilege of a crisis.
🩺 Dr. Rabia
A medical resident blocked not by ability but by application fees — a small, temporary gap standing in front of a large, permanent contribution.
None of these people needed charity. None deserved 300% APR. They needed what banks don’t make: a small, dignified, zero-interest bridge. So we built it.
The founder
Azhar Hameed
Azhar Hameed is an entrepreneur and philanthropist whose work spans health, education, animal welfare, the arts, and hunger relief. He serves as Global President (volunteer) of Akhuwat USA — part of the world’s largest zero-interest lending movement, which has disbursed roughly $2 billion across 6 million loans to 4 million families with 99%+ repayment. VIGA brings that charitable-lending tradition to American emergencies: professionally underwritten, digitally delivered, and free of interest — always.
The organization
Built to be trusted.
Structure & governance
- California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation · 501(c)(3) public charity · EIN 42-2401101
- Lending decisions made by an algorithm designed by an independent committee, on the basis of fairness and creditworthiness — no person can arrange or influence a loan
- Two-pool capital structure: a Lending Capital Pool and a separate Loss Guarantee Fund
Papers & contact
- Legal · Privacy Policy · governing documents available on request
- 24586 Hawthorne Blvd. Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90505
- info@viga.org · 1-877-ASKVIGA (275-8442)
The bridge holds because many hands hold it.
Borrow it, fund it, volunteer on it, or bring your business to it — there’s a place for you here.