30 More Small Businesses Receive Reopening Support

FUNDING AWARDED TO THIRTY MORE DIVERSE SMALL BUSINESSES IN COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY COVID-19

 Lawyers for Civil Rights Provides Support to Minority and Women-Owned Small Businesses Across Massachusetts

Inspired by a successful and innovative partnership between Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Tufts Health Plan supporting small businesses affected by the pandemic, an anonymous family has dedicated generous and powerful support to help struggling small businesses reopen across the Commonwealth.  

Thirty small businesses have been awarded $500 grants to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE); technology allowing their employees to work safely remotely; and other health and wellness-related supports to help with their reopening. 

“We are thrilled to be able to provide even more amazing small businesses with much needed support to purchase PPE for their safe and successful reopening,” said Priya Lane, Director of LCR | BizGrow. “In this latest round of grants, we are proud to help thirty additional small businesses bringing the grand total of businesses with LCR | BizGrow grants to fifty,” added Ms. Lane. 

“On behalf of the diverse communities we serve, I want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to our anonymous family for helping us make dreams come true for these inspiring small businesses,” said Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, Executive Director of Lawyers for Civil Rights. “This investment in LCR | BizGrow, on the heels of our initial small business grants, is truly worthy of celebration and will have a direct impact on Main Streets across the Commonwealth.”  

This group of small businesses hail from across Massachusetts and are incredibly diverse: 57% are women-owned and 3% are non-binary. Additionally, 43% are Black-owned; 37% are Latinx-owned; 7% are Asian-owned; and 7% are Middle Eastern. Approximately, 7% identify as LGBTQI+.

The full list of inspiring small businesses appears below. LCR will continue to help small businesses with free legal and technical support at our upcoming virtual BizGrow Conference.

Small Businesses

Boston Hair Studio is a Black-owned hair salon located in Randolph. The salon offers a variety of services, including for natural hair care, weaves, and extensions. The business was recently featured for their impressive career readiness program, which allows local students to visit the salon to develop career specific experience in the industry. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks and face shields. Check out their website and Facebook page.

Café El Dorado is a Latinx family-owned Colombian bakery and café in Chelsea. They are known for their delicious cakes, particularly their tres leches cake, as well as other Colombian pastries and breads. This business has a record of meeting adversity with resilience, as they did after their business tragically burned down in 2013, as reported in the Boston Globe. In response to the pandemic, the café was using plastic bags to cover their pastries because they could not afford to purchase plexiglass. The PPE funding will be used to buy fiberglass as well as reusable masks, disposable gloves and protection aprons. Check out their Facebook page.

CERO Cooperative is a bilingual worker-owned coop providing commercial composting service in Boston. It is more than “just a compost hauler.” The team of worker-owners invests in the community while helping to preserve the environment. They keep food waste out of landfills while providing great green jobs. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, gloves, and cleaning supplies. Check out their work on their website and Facebook page.  

Cini Coffee is a Black and immigrant-owned small business selling authentic Ethiopian coffee in Brighton. They sell their products in farmers’ markets in Boston and Cambridge. Since the pandemic, they have been selling and delivering coffee orders door-to-door. The PPE funding will be used to buy gloves, masks, and portable hand-washing sinks. Check out their website and Instagram.

Dottie’s Family Childcare is a Black woman-owned childcare service for children in Dorchester. They work hard to provide compassionate care, and have an extensive background in education. One of the many online testimonials noted: “Dottie is such a kind person, who treats all of the children with great respect and values their thoughts and opinions, and her amazing education background fuels a strong curriculum.” The PPE funding will be used to buy cleaning supplies to protect staff and children. Check out their work here.

Family Affair Restaurant is a Black-owned restaurant and catering company in Dorchester serving Southern comfort food. The business has received much acclaim, particularly for its 52 variations of chicken and waffles. The owner also trained as an opera singer. The PPE funding will be used to buy cleaning supplies and shields. Check out their website and Facebook page. 

Gallery EyeCare is the only independent Black-owned eye clinic in Roxbury providing quality eye-care and eyewear to the local community. The clinic features a gallery space that regularly showcases the work of local artists. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, sanitizer, and cleaning products. Check out their website.

Intriguing Hair is a Black woman-owned beauty shop in Hyde Park, known as “the drybar” for hair extensions and wigs. They provide a variety of services, ranging from custom-coloring and installations in-shop to a convenient online store. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks for staff and customers to maximize safety. Check out their website and Facebook page. 

Loft Hair Studio is a Black woman-owned “curly hair exclusive” salon in Medford. The studio’s purpose is to “provide every client with the very best in curly hair services, every time.” The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies needed to ensure their customers’ safety. Check out their website and Instagram.

María’s Family Child Care is a Latinx woman-owned bilingual childcare service in Roxbury providing quality care in both English and Spanish. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, gloves, and disinfectant supplies to protect staff and children. Check out their work here.

Maria’s Taqueria is a small Latinx family-owned restaurant serving authentic Mexican food, including some of the “best burritos” in Boston. The taqueria has both a brick-and-mortar store as well as a food truck making sure all Bostonians have a chance to eat some of the best Mexican food around. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, hand sanitizer, and shields. Check out their website.

Micro Plant Studio is a Latinx-owned local plant store in South Boston. The owner thought of the business after caring for succulent plants following an unexpected surgery. The business provides customers with “beautiful, unique, soothing, and joyful artistic products” under the slogan: “Tiny roots. Big smiles.” The PPE funding will be used to buy masks and hand sanitizer. Check out their website and Facebook page.

Mo’Rockin Fusion is a Moroccan-owned food truck in Quincy. In a Boston Voyager profile, the owner spoke about how his love for cooking stems from his childhood growing up in Morocco and helping his mother in the kitchen. He started his own business after moving to the United States in his 20s and working at a number of fine dining restaurants in Atlantic City and Boston. This successful food truck would like to expand to a brick-and-mortar location in Quincy Market. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies. Check out their Twitter and Facebook page.

Nachlo Pakistani and Mexican Food is a Pakistani-owned restaurant serving a unique blend of traditional Pakistani and Mexican food in Roxbury. Featured in Boston Eater, their dishes are 100% halal, including biryany and tacos, as well as samosas and quesadillas. The PPE funding will be used to buy hand sanitizer and masks. Check out their website. 

Next Step Soul Food Café is a Black woman-owned soul food restaurant in Dorchester. The owner was recently profiled in Boston Magazine noting that soul food “has always been in her veins” and that the business is run on “women power.” The café is well known for its fried chicken, pork chops smothered in gravy, mac and cheese, and collard greens. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, gloves, and plexiglass. Check out their Facebook page.

Nos Casa Cafe is a Black woman-owned restaurant serving Cape Verdean cuisine in Roxbury. The cafe gives back to the community offering employment opportunities to empower local women. It serves customers traditional Cape Verdean cuisine highlighting the culture’s rich flavors at affordable prices. The menu includes traditional dishes such as jagacida, cuscus, and cachupa. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks and gloves. Check out their website.

Panela Restaurant is a Latinx family-owned Colombian restaurant in Lowell with 20+ years of experience in the kitchen. Panela — raw sugar cane — is a staple of Colombian cooking. This is an important ingredient in the restaurant’s dishes, including modern takes on traditional Colombian flavors. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, face shields, plexiglass, and educational material for employees and customers. Check out their website and Facebook page.

Pho Hoa is an Asian family-owned restaurant serving Vietnamese food in Dorchester since 1992. They serve a wide array of traditional dishes, including lemongrass chicken skewers, vermicelli bowls, and pho. The PPE funding will be used to buy plexiglass, reusable fabric masks staff, hand sanitizer stations for incoming guests, and to create a QR code menu so that customers can view and order from their phones. Check out their website and Facebook page.

Quezada Family Day Care is a Latinx-owned certified day care offering services for children in Dorchester. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks, hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies to protect staff and children. Check out their work here. 

Rei Da Picanha is a Latinx-owned restaurant serving traditional Brazilian dishes for nearly a decade in Somerville. They offer a wide variety of fresh and healthy options, including a range of seafood, pork, and beef platters. The PPE funding will be used to buy cleaning products. Check out their website. 

Ripple Cafe is a Black-owned pop-up coffee shop in Dorchester serving a wide array of fruit smoothies and coffee. The cafe is a “one stop shop for meeting great people and having a great experience with people you care about.” The PPE funding will be used to buy table barriers, masks, gloves, and sanitizer. Check out their website and Facebook page. 

Soc Trang Vietnamese Restaurant is an Asian woman-owned restaurant in Springfield serving authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Numerous online reviewers rave about their pho because of the delicious broth, flavors, and ingredients. The restaurant also offers many noodle and rice dishes. The PPE funding will be used to buy gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer. Check out their website and Facebook page. 

Supreme Coffee & Donuts is a Latinx woman-owned business known as a “favorite local coffee shop” in Brockton. The retail store also handles custom wholesale orders and catering. It supplies donuts and muffins to surrounding coffee and pastry shops. The PPE funding will be used to buy disinfectant products. Check out their website.

Suya Joint All African Cuisine is a Black woman-owned restaurant in Roxbury offering individual and family-style West African meals. Located near Northeastern University, the restaurant is known for its delicious jollof rice entree beef suya, a Nigerian delicacy. Their food has received acclaim from The Improper Bostonian and online reviewers. The PPE funding will be used to buy masks and hand sanitizer. Check out their website and Facebook page. 

Sweet Grace Heavenly Cakes is a Caribbean woman-owned bakery and cupcake shop in Lawrence. The bakery offers an array of Dominican and Puerto Rican cakes, cookies, and pastries. The Small Business Administration (SBA) highlighted this business noting it was started by a 22 year-old newcomer to the United States. The PPE funding will be used to install protective glass. Check out their Facebook page.

Tex MexEats is a Latinx-owned business in Boston serving authentic and nutritional Texas Mexican food combined with local New England ingredients to create “Texachusetts” flavors, which have been featured in the Boston Globe. They offer catering services, cooking classes, and have an online store where customers can buy frozen tamales and salsas, which they sell at farmer’s markets. The PPE funding will be used to buy sanitizing equipment and packaging materials to ensure safe deliveries to customers. Check out their website and Instagram.

Tony Williams Dance Center is a Black-owned studio striving for diversity through dance in Jamaica Plain. The owner was a principal dancer for the Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and other prestigious dance companies. Committed to providing an “excellent arts education to Boston’s diverse communities” by embracing and celebrating cultural difference, the studio provides instructions of hip-hop, salsa, modern, lyrical, flamenco, and other dances for both children and adults. The PPE funding will be used to buy cleaning supplies and hand sanitizing stations. Check out their website and Facebook page.

Vega Brothers is a Latinx family-owned convenience store known to the community as a place to find fresh groceries, toiletries, and snacks in Roxbury. In addition to being the only convenience store in the neighborhood that remained opened during the pandemic, the owners have been providing masks for the community. The PPE funding will be used to buy cleaning supplies and materials to make more masks. Check out their work here.  

Wash N’time is a Latinx woman-owned laundromat in Lawrence providing quality and reliable service to members of the community. The PPE funding will be used to buy hand sanitizer, masks, and disinfecting supplies. Check out their work here. 

Yomaly’s Family Day Care is a Latinx woman-owned licensed childcare business in Hyde Park. They have 19 years of professional experience working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers — and providing a fun and safe learning environment for children and work to promote the development of independence and self-help skills. The PPE funding will be used to buy cleaning supplies, gloves, and masks to protect staff and children. Check out their work here.