Grant applications open for nonprofits, small businesses affected by flooding

Kasia Gregorczyk
·2 min read

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5) — Applications opened Monday for a San Diego grant program to help small businesses and nonprofits recover from the historic flooding at the end of January.

The Small Business Enhancement Program will provide selected small businesses and nonprofits up to $5,000. City officials say it will prioritize awarding grants to those located in high-impact, storm-affected areas, as well as those in under-resourced, low to moderate income communities.

“We eagerly applied the minute that the application dropped,” said Brittany Wiczek, one of the founders of the Logan Heights nonprofit, San Diego Made.

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With a budget of $370,000 and damages estimated over $100,000, her organization was one of the first to jump at the opportunity for the aid through the Small Business Enhancement Program.

“We’re hoping that we get it, because between that, crowdfunding, volunteers, I mean that the thing that’s going to pull us through,” Wiczek said.

All applicants must have 12 employees or less. Eligible expenses include: repairs, equipment, cleanup supplies and labor, employee wages, and insurance deductibles.

For San Diego Made and many others, insurance didn’t cover flooding. While they’ve made progress on repairs and hope to re-open in March, they know many others still have a long road to recovery.

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The nonprofit is hosting a fundraiser on Saturday at the Brea & Salt in Logan Heights from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. that will largely go to helping those people that are still struggling to bounce back.

“The shift has definitely focused and it’s a way to pay it forward because I feel really blessed in what we’ve been able to get and I just feel like we need to give that back to community too now,” said Wiczek.

Applications for the grants through the Small Business Enhancement Program close Feb. 27 and can be found at sandiego.gov/ERG.

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