Businesses along this Sacramento street can get help for their losses due to coronavirus

With California’s stay-at-home orders in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, restaurant business has plummeted in several places, including Sacramento.

Some have temporarily closed or laid off employees to cut costs. To ease the impact, Sacramento community organizations are raising funds to support restaurants along the Stockton Boulevard Commercial Corridor.

The emergency relief funds is a collaborative effort between nonprofit Stockton Boulevard Community Development Corporation and the Stockton Boulevard Partnership, an association that advocates on public policies and economic development on behalf of property and business owners.

The fund aims to bring relief to struggling restaurants and to bring as much awareness as possible, said Frank Louie, the partnership’s executive director.

Twenty-five restaurants will each receive a $1,000 grant. So far around $19,000 of the goal have been raised, with donations from the community development corporation, the partnership, a multi-agency collaborative known as “Donate4Sacramento” and a GoFundMe website.

The fundraising website was set up in hopes of recruiting more grassroots efforts from the public to meet the goal. Donations and funding will be accepted after the goal is reached to make resources available to more restaurants.

The application period opened Monday. All food services within the Stockton Boulevard Property and Business Improvement District are eligible to apply, Louie said. Seven of the 25 grants will be given specifically to independent minority-owned restaurants with an annual revenue of $500,000 or less through the Donate4Sacramento Fund.

The grants can be use to pay bills, provide pickup and delivery services, or to continue operations so that restaurants can stay open and employees can continue providing for families, said Lisa Cordell, project and office manager of Stockton Boulevard Partnership.

“A lot of restaurants are trying to figure it out in hopes of trying to stay open,” she said. “If we can do a part to give to businesses to lessen the impact of COVID-19, we are happy to do that for them.”

Business struggles ‘happened overnight’

Around 45 percent of the restaurants on the Stockton Boulevard Corridor are Asian-owned, Louie estimated. Many are concentrated on the south end, forming the Little Saigon district.

As an Asian American, Louie said the resilience of the Asian-owned mom-and-pop stores hit close to home.

“Our parents came with nothing and were firmly entrenched in trying to make our lives better, sacrificing themselves. I am really appreciative,” he said.

Many restaurants have experienced a significant plunge in business since the COVID-19 outbreak. King Palace, a dim sum restaurant up and running since 2003, applied for the grant. Manager Paula Yang said sales have dropped up to 80 percent since early March, even before stay-at-home orders were announced.

The blow hit hard on the first weekend of March: Yang recalled having more employees than customers at the restaurant at a time of the week when it would be busiest.

She’s never encountered a situation like this, which “happened overnight.”

“This is the worst you could get,” she said.

Yang had to temporarily cut short her on-site staff from around 30 to just four. She cannot afford the rent. If awarded the $1,000, Wang said she will give it to her remaining employees as a bonus for staying with her during such hard times. Retail workers, many in their 40s and 50s, are afraid of being infected by the virus and would rather not go out to work, she said.

“There are these two guys who have been working for us for 14 years. I didn’t even have to ask. They said ‘yes’ right away,” she said.

Pauline Huang, manager of Oba Japanese Kitchen, also estimated a 70 percent drop in sales since early March. The restaurant laid off some employees to cut costs, but Huang assured those people they can return once business bounces back.

“It is very sad, but we try to be wise and safe,” she said.

Meanwhile, Huang appreciates how the waiters who barely have a chance to get tips from deliveries and pickup orders still come in to help.

Huang said the grant will be helpful in alleviating their financial burden.

“At least we get a little help, and it is very nice,” she said. “We appreciate what they (the partnership) are doing for the whole industry.”

Louie said it is important have empathy and compassion, and to put oneself in their shoes to understand the challenges they have.

“We want to do the best we can to help,” he said.

All restaurants in the Stockton Boulevard Property and Business Improvement District can apply online.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 5:00 AM.