New pandemic grants support small businesses of color on Chicago’s West Side

Image courtesy of Twitter via the Chicago Blackhawks 

	By Molly O'Mera, Reporter, The Real Chi

New grants have been made available to offer pandemic assistance to small businesses operated by people of color on Chicago’s West Side. The Support West program will provide $5,000 in relief to businesses who apply before the deadlines close on February 28th. 

The program has been put together by the Chicago Blackhawks and sponsored by United Airlines. In a news statement, Blackhawks’ CEO Danny Wirtz said that Support West aimed to “elevate the economic corridors of West Side communities.”

Any West Side business can apply, but must meet specific requirements to receive the grant. This includes being run by a person of color, employing 10 or fewer people, operating for at least 1 year with less than $250,000 in annual revenue, and having suffered at least 25% decrease in profit due to COVID-19. 

The grants will be distributed to the selected businesses by the end of March, ensuring relief hits the community quickly. 

Support West is an offshoot of the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation’s One West Side project, which is designed to invest in the city’s West Side. Through One West Side, they’ve already put $2 million into the cause, which has gone to support programs like West Side United and Austin Childcare Providers Network.

Through this support, overdue resources are brought to our neighborhoods of color and those who have long deserved them. Whether or not it was intentional, this program coinciding with Black History Month makes a perfectly apt way to celebrate.