Under pressure to offer solutions as Chicago reeled from days of widespread looting earlier this summer, Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised help was on the way for small businesses that had been ransacked.
City Hall would spend $10 million to create the “Together Now” fund, ask philanthropists to chip in more, and funnel the cash to shop owners the first-term mayor said had been “most affected over the last few days.”
“The violence and destruction we saw take place against our communities, serve to steal the dreams and the livelihoods of business owners, and in some instances it stole the few sources of food and medicine for our families across our city,” Lightfoot said at a June 5 news conference in the parking lot of a Jewel-Osco in West Woodlawn. “That’s why we immediately embarked on developing this fund to help our neighbors and businesses recover.”
But records obtained by the Tribune show the Lightfoot administration only paid out a fraction of what the mayor promised to businesses damaged during the civil unrest that followed the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
Just $232,760 in grants were approved for 77 Chicago businesses, records show. The city determined 120 businesses that applied weren’t eligible and said another 300 or so applications were incomplete.
And though Lightfoot announced the grants July 31, some of the money wasn’t sent out until Aug. 20, after the Tribune asked City Hall about the concerns of business owners who said they hadn’t been paid yet.
A top Lightfoot aide said the purpose of the fund morphed because there wasn’t enough demand for $10 million in looting relief that would have met the city’s stringent requirements. Instead, the city also distributed about $6 million from the fund to businesses that suffered losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The city did the right thing and we’re being nimble,” said Samir Mayekar, the deputy mayor for economic development.
Mayekar dismissed the distinction between the so-called infrastructure grants for businesses damaged by looting — which is how Lightfoot pitched the program — and the businesses that got “operational” grants for coronavirus losses.
“Go talk to the 1,500 businesses that got operational support as well and ask them if they differentiate,” Mayekar said.
South Side Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, said she felt hope standing at the Jewel store with Lightfoot as the mayor announced the fund for looted businesses. In the weeks since, that hope has vanished, Taylor said.
“I’m always excited on initiatives to help small business owners and the little people, but I’m also twice as disappointed that we haven’t given out enough money,” Taylor said. “We could have helped a whole lot more businesses.”
That disappointment is shared by some business owners who said they were frustrated by the small amounts awarded and confused by the process.
Christine Tran said she lost at least $30,000 in equipment and carefully curated nail polishes when looters hit her Chatham nail salon, Hip Hop Nails.
“They took everything,” she told the Tribune. “Whatever they can take, they took it.”
Anxious to recoup some of those damages, Tran applied but received only $1,000.
“It helps just a little bit, but it’s not enough,” Tran said. “I wish we can get some more.”
Grant restrictions
About two weeks after Lightfoot introduced the Together Now fund, the city began accepting applications.
Businesses damaged in the looting that followed Floyd’s killing were eligible to apply for infrastructure grants of up to $10,000 to cover physical damage that wasn’t covered by insurance or to pay insurance deductibles. Lost merchandise wasn’t eligible.
Businesses seeking grants due to COVID-19 losses were eligible for up to $4,000 if they lost a quarter or more of their annual revenue because of the pandemic.
The city allowed businesses to apply for both.
Records show officials put numerous other restrictions on Together Now applicants. To be eligible, businesses must not have more than 100 full-time employees or owe more than $2,500 in unpaid fees, services or other costs to the city.
The city also required applicants to provide their business license or 501(c)(3) approval, bank or tax statement, insurance claims or repair quotes.
Business owners seeking infrastructure grants were told to provide a “cost estimate for damage,” with “broken window, door, security gates, interior walls, or building mechanicals” given as examples, a copy of the online application shows. The businesses also were asked to select a range for their damage, from under $5,000 to more than half a million, though the fund would pay far less than that even under the most generous award.
Asked if the city’s standards could’ve been different, Mayekar said that would’ve been an invitation for “waste, fraud and abuse.”
Even with tight standards, Mayekar said, the city received “many many fraudulent applications.” A city spokesman estimated the number at 75 to 100.
Mayekar said he didn’t know if the city reported suspected fraudulent applications to police or law enforcement. A spokesman later said City Hall didn’t because “it did not seem to rise to the level of criminal activity.”
The help that city officials ultimately gave applicants was generally small. Of the businesses that received infrastructure money, 31 were given $1,000 or less.
Payouts to damaged businesses ranged from $230 for a downtown nail spa to $10,000 for eight businesses. The average award for “infrastructure” grants was roughly $3,000, city records show. The city also paid about 60% of infrastructure grant recipients an additional $4,000 in operational grants, which amounted to $192,000 divided among 48 businesses, records show.
Veteran South Side Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, said the $232,000 specifically paid for the looting damage “infrastructure” grants is “not even a drop in the bucket.”
“The money that’s being given is nowhere close to what’s needed to get them back on their feet,” Beale said.
Businesses were allowed to start applying for another round of Together Now funds starting Friday, but only if they’ve suffered losses due to the virus. Businesses that previously received $4,000 operational grants are no longer eligible to apply, however.
Business owner frustration
Several business owners applauded the city’s intention but found the results lacking. Insurance didn’t cover all of their looting losses.
Chella Holcomb said she prides herself on being a Black business owner in Bronzeville, where she grew up. She said she founded Luv Handles, a custom gift and event-planning shop, not just as a means to support herself and her family but to serve as a pillar in her community.
A fire broke out on May 31 and swallowed up her entire store. What the flames did not touch ended up being submerged in water. Chicago police are still investigating the cause of the fire, which a spokesman said began inside a building on that block that had been looted.
“It just changed my life,” Holcomb said. “It not just financially draining, it was emotionally draining, knowing that I don’t have my store I built from the ground up.”
Holcomb said she lost at least $80,000 in infrastructure, equipment and merchandise and is unsure whether her insurance will cover most of the damages. She said she applied for a Together Now grant and was mystified when she only received $1,000.
“I hate to be ungrateful, but I definitely didn’t think they’d only give me $1,000,” she said. “We need help. But I don’t want to be an angry person either, so I try to put more energy into myself instead of blaming (city officials) because they didn’t do it.”
Abimbola Akinbode said she was looking forward to reopening her West Rogers Park store, Olaidebola Beauty Supply, in June after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic led to a brief closure. But the very day she restocked all her beauty supplies, she got a call about 9 p.m. that looters had struck. She walked into a scene that seemed out of a “strange land,” she said.
In the subsequent weeks, Akinbode said she had to lay off her employees and now works with a co-owner. She estimates the looters swiped 70% of her products, amounting to at least $25,000 in damages, after smashing in her front door.
Akinbode balked when she was told the final amount the city had awarded her was $305.
“What’s $305 going to do?” Akinbode said. “It’s not going to even get us nowhere. It’s not even the amount that will fix the glass. It makes us feel bad.”
Khalid Mehmood said he has run his sports apparel store, Stop & Buy Sports in Roseland, for more than 20 years. He fears it won’t ever be the same after it was looted the afternoon of May 31.
“That’s a place I feed my family with,” Mehmood said. “It means to me everything.”
Mehmood said his business looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Beyond the broken front gate and windows were rows and rows of cleaned-out racks inside the store. The total damages amounted to more than $200,000, Mehmood said.
Mehmood applied for the Together Now fund and was informed he will receive a $1,000 infrastructure grant in addition to a $4,000 operational grant, he said.
As of Thursday, Mehmood said he hadn’t yet received the actual payment. He also said the amount is “nothing.”
“The city is very behind. They’re just promising in the media, that’s it,” Mehmood said. “My heart is broken.”
