Two small businesses along Fourth Plain Boulevard in central Vancouver have been awarded mini grants to help boost their operations.
In January, Vancouver nonprofit Fourth Plain Forward announced the next recipients of its mini grant program: Mi Casa Pupuseria y Mexican Restaurant, 3320 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Unit D, and United Studios of Self Defense Vancouver, 4210 E. Fourth Plain Blvd. Each business received $1,000 through the program, which is sponsored by KeyBank.
The mini grant program targets small businesses along the Fourth Plain corridor and helps owners tackle challenges that, while seemingly small, can have a major impact on daily operations.
“Coming out of COVID, a lot of them were struggling financially,” Fourth Plain Forward Program Manager Wil Fuentes said. “It’s definitely a challenge, and the idea was really to cultivate those connections and understand what their needs are.”
The mini grant program launched in June through a partnership with KeyBank’s Corporate Responsibility Officer Angel Reyes. Fourth Plain Forward was given $20,000 to redistribute to various small businesses in Vancouver.
Eight businesses have been awarded $1,000 mini grants, while another two received $9,000 for website development. The remaining grant money was dedicated to helping an additional seven small businesses with promotional videos for their brands, Fuentes said.
“I think it’s a sigh of relief for some,” Fuentes said of the mini grants. “What these business owners do is live day to day with whatever they earn, and it’s really hard to expand or buy essential necessities.”
But support for small businesses isn’t always monetary, Fuentes said.
Through his role, Fuentes has built relationships with many small-business owners, in which he also helps with translation services, permit applications, and in general, connecting them with as many resources as he can.
Fourth Plain Forward is working to uplift Black, brown and Indigenous communities, as well as those facing resource limitations and exclusion from mainstream services in Vancouver.
The organization, which registered as a nonprofit in 2018, was formed by six local agencies — the city of Vancouver, Clark County Public Health, Workforce Southwest Washington, Vancouver Public Schools, Vancouver Housing Authority and Evergreen Habitat for Humanity.
The nonprofit also offers grant-writing services for other nonprofits, business and cooking incubators, as well as a program to train doulas, those who help mothers before, during and just after childbirth.
The mini grant program is another way the nonprofit is working to uplift business owners of color in the community, Fuentes said.
“It’s about time. When you’re a business owner, time is essential and it’s important, you know? It’s hard to put a price on it,” Fuentes said. “So when you get some of that time to focus on other things, I think that’s where a lot of the great things happen. It was really good to see that this would give them a little bit of time back.”
Local impact
Mi Casa Pupuseria y Mexican Restaurant has served authentic Salvadorian and traditional Mexican food since opening in 2019. Owners Roberto and Gloria Chavarria specialize in dishes from their home country of El Salvador, such as pupusas (stuffed tortillas) and fried plantains.
But last summer, the restaurant’s ice maker broke, and the Chavarrias had to buy individual bags of ice every day to keep the restaurant running. The mini grant from Fourth Plain Forward allowed the restaurant to purchase a new commercial ice maker, saving the Chavarrias money and improving the customer experience.
“That’s what I’m doing all the time is making people feel happy,” Roberto Chavarria said. “We just want to make people feel comfortable.”
At United Studios of Self Defense Vancouver, owner and chief instructor Matt Quinlan not only teaches people of all ages how to master martial arts but empowers them to overcome emotional, mental and physical challenges, he said.
Quinlan teaches about 100 students, ranging in age from 3 to 60. Quinlan said one of the most important things about martial arts is that it brings community together, regardless of race, age, background or religion.
With the mini grant, Quinlan purchased a new refrigerator to provide healthier snack options for students and facilitate family dinner nights, where the studio provides a home-cooked meal for students every Wednesday. The martial arts studio will also upgrade its restroom fixtures, Quinlan said.
“The reason I am a martial arts instructor now is because of my childhood,” Quinlan said. “It changed my perspective and taught me there can be that light in the darkness. Within that, I found my niche for opening up a space for kids like me. Martial arts are colorless, and it is boundless.”
