Funding initiative pivots to seek grant applications from some MKE businesses

An organization awarding grants to revitalize Milwaukee neighborhoods is pivoting because of the pandemic.

AN ORGANIZATION AWARDINGGRANTS TO REVITALIZE MILWAUKEENEIGHBORHOODS IS PIVOTINGBECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC.NEWTODAY-- JULIA FELLO SPOKE TO AWOMAN WORKING FAST TO GETTHOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN GRANTMONEY AND ZERO INTEREST LOANSINTO THE HANDS OF STRUGGLINGBUSINESS OWNERS.A leader with the bronzevillecollective says the artistsare hurting.

They only have afew months before they'd haveto close their doors for good.They are hoping to qualify fora 12 hundred dollar grant tokeep goingKNOWN FOR HAVINGMORE THAN 20 ARTISTS OF COLORSELLING THEIR WORK IN ONESPACE ... BRONZEVILLECOLLECTIVE CREATORS ARE INSURVIVAL MODE.THEY RECENTLYAPPLIED FOR A GRANT FROM BREWCITY MATCH ... A PROGRAM THATPROVIDES RESOURCES TO SMALLBUSINESS OWNERS IN SELECTAREAS OF THE CITY.(á3:48REPORTER: where would thatmoney go towards?ANSWER: Rightto the rent we just wanna keepthe doors open if we keep thedoors open it's having notjust a positive impact on usbut all the vendors we carryin the store as wellTHE MONEYFROM THE "LOCAL SUPPORTCORPORATION" OR "LISC."THEPROGRAM'S OFFICER SAYS THEYRECEIVED MILLIONS FROM "JPMORGAN CHASE" TO REVITALIZESTRUGGLING AREAS OF MILWAUKEEWITH HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE.THE PANDEMIC CHANGED THEIRFOCUS TO HELP EXISTINGBUSINESSES SURVIVE.so that ora year were not just lookingat completely vacant corridorsto fill we wanna make sure thebusinesses that have been goodto the community and good tothese neighborhoods for yearsare able to sustain what'shappening right nowINPARTNERSHIP WITH OTHERORGANIZATIONS, "LISC" ISACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FROMBUSINESSES IN AFFECTED AREASLIKE "THE BRONZEVILLECOLLECTIVE MKE."TO APPLY FORUP TO 1,200 IN GRANT MONEYORFIVE TO TEN-THOUSAND DOLLARSIN ZERO-INTEREST LOANS.

Ifthere aren't more peoplestepping up if there aren'tlandlords giving grace inmaking payments then a lot ofsmall businesses are going togo out of businessTWOBUSINESSES HAVE ALREADY BEENACCEPTED FOR THE GRANT MONEY,THAT SHOULD BE IN THEIR HANDSWITHIN FIVE DAYS.BRONZEVILLECOLLECTIVE ARTSISTS SAY SAYTHEY WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR ASHORT RESPITE IN ALL THISCHAOS.

Honestly we Dont knowwhat sales are going to beafter something like thisJULIA FELLO TMJ4 NEWS.