Stories of Resiliency: Supporting Latina-Owned Enterprises
The LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund has provided a much-needed wave of financial relief and recovery tools for small businesses, non-profits providing essential services, immigrant-owned enterprises and the most vulnerable Angelenos impacted by the pandemic. Serving as the Fund Administrator, LISC LA has awarded grants to over 1,000 businesses. Each week, we’ll be sharing the stories of our resilient grant recipients.
As the season of giving continues, LISC LA encourages all of us to reflect and find rays of hope in the face of the challenges this year has presented. Since March, the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we live and work. On top of the public health crisis, the lockdowns and operating restrictions in effect across the city and county have made running a business a daily struggle. Some were able to transition their services online and develop protocols to meet new safety standards, but with less revenue coming in and bills piling up, Angelenos needed economic relief. A number of financial relief programs were created to address the needs of local businesses, but unfortunately, the many cultural, technical and financial barriers in receiving this aid have caused many businesses to fall through the cracks.
To support the small businesses that form the backbone of the diverse Los Angeles community, the City and County created the nearly $100 million LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund to provide $5,000 to $75,000 grants to small businesses, microentrepreneurs and non-profits. With over 40 years of experience connecting communities to resources and opportunities, LISC LA ensured grants were distributed equitably and reached the most vulnerable Angelenos.
Two such local Latina-owned businesses who became recipients of the LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund grant are California Families in Focus in Long Beach and A&R Gifts General in South LA.
California Families in Focus (CFF), a Long Beach based education non-profit, runs a program for high school scholars — Visionaries Inspiring Purpose. For Maria Macias, CEO and co-founder of CFF, she hopes to go beyond just using social service programs and innovative events to empower high students and their families. She also has a vision to build a thriving, proactive and healthy community. When the pandemic hit, Macias and her team quickly shifted gears to provide vital support for youth and families, seniors and the disabled, single mothers, the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants. This crisis led Macias to look for more funding for her non-profit because she knew that these vulnerable groups needed more help now, which led her to the LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund.
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Weathering COVID-19 required the community coming together to help one another and with the financial help from the grant, Macias, her CFF team, and other committed Long Beach volunteers were able to provide “Safer at Home Love Kits” — which will include personal hygiene products, PPE, food, gift cards, and personalized notes — to thousands of people in their community.
“The COVID pandemic may have taken our freedom but it did not take the courageous and generous spirit of our members,” Macia said. “CFF feels honored and proud to be able to meet the needs of thousands of our community members through our combined COVID relief efforts.”
Our second featured recipient this week is local Rosa Sanchez and her small gift shop and botanical store A&R Gifts Generallocated just a few miles south of the University of Southern California. Sanchez faced more than just her store closing as a result of the pandemic — she also tested positive for COVID-19, battling the illness without any source of income for four months.
With the help of the LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund grant, Sanchez was able to get back on her feet and pay the store’s rent and electricity bill. She is hoping that she will be able to use any additional funds left from her grant to acquire more inventory for her shop. The grant has been a tremendous help to A & R, she said, because it offered her a way to pay off bills that she was behind on. Through these unprecedented times, there has been a lot of uncertainty, including the gift shop’s four month closure.
“The grant has been such a blessing to my life and business. Without it, I would probably be struggling to get back on my feet,” says Sanchez.
While the Fund’s final round of its grant program is now closed, LISC LA continues to build resilient and inclusive communities for people, places and businesses through a number of programs they offer throughout the year. To learn more about LISC LA and the programs they offer, visit https://www.lisc.org/los-angeles/.
