Small businesses near the Broad Street corridor have felt the onslaught of repetitive storms, the economic impact of COVID-19 and now layered loss caused by Hurricane Ida on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Business owners have been without electricity and displaced and unable to provide services to the neighborhoods that they live and work in daily. We know from previous disasters that the impact to the road of recovery will be felt disproportionately by Black and Brown business owners. According to FEMA, 40% - 60% of small businesses close permanently after a disaster and businesses that are closed for at least five days, 90 percent fail within a year. As a New Orleans community development organization devoted to sustaining Broad Street and its neighborhoods as a vibrant, equitable, and inclusive, supporting our business owners is a no-brainer.

Committed to supporting these cultural anchors of our neighborhoods, BCC is asking you to match our effort through donating to our Broad Street Business Relief Fund. We believe in putting our money where our mouth is and ensuring that we can help our folks minimize challenges and delays they are facing personally and professionally so we are investing $10,000 to be regranted.

While our business owners are waiting for delayed response of federal resources and insurance claims, it is necessary that we offer them a barrier-free flexible cash to help them cover the cost of things like evacuation cost, rent, bills on other expenditures that will keep them from reopening and staying open. Help us to support 50 small business owners who will be selected through a racial equity lens.