TOLEDO, Ohio — $620,000 has been given to small businesses called 'micro enterprises' here in Toledo.
The money is being handed out in up to $5,000 increments that the businesses don't have to pay back to help them during the coronavirus pandemic.
To be eligible, the business has to be in a low or moderate income tract or be run by someone in a low to moderate income household.
"Sales are down 90-plus percent from the previous year's same quarters, and it's been a very trying time," Brie Campbell, the lead chef at Ida's Catering said.
Campbell is the third generation to run Ida's Catering.
In it's 38th year, the small business depends on events with large numbers of people, something that has virtually disappeared in the pandemic.
She took advantage of a grant from the city, and as a mom of four running a business, she's learned what it's like to balance it all during a pandemic.
"The grant itself is just incredibly helpful in just covering some of our overhead costs that are inevitably racking up," Campbell said.
She'll use the grant to create homemade ready-to-go meals.
"We'll be offering family meal packages; we'll be making them as affordable as possible for working families. We know that with kids returning to school it's just going to be that much more difficult," Campbell said.
More than 150 microbusinesses received this same grant from the city. 56 percent are minority owned, 52 percent are female owned and 74 percent are one of the two.
"These businesses are so important to their families, to their neighborhoods, to the people who work for them. It's so important that we keep them here in the city of Toledo and we keep them thriving," said Sandy Spang, Toledo Commissioner of Business Services.
Kristen Moncrief has seen an uptick in business since the pandemic, and with the grant has been able to grow her mobile optician business Opti-go.
"Business has kind of picked up because people are kind of nervous about going into large crowds, about going into buildings, so people reach out to me because they can get that one-on-one," Moncrief said.
She brings the eye appointment to you in her new van and also has virtual appointment options.
"It meant the world to me because it allowed me to maintain and increase my inventory and allowed me to add more services to my business," Moncrief said.
If you believe you or someone you know is eligible, a second round of grants should be opening up soon.