Second round of BRACE grants help Charlottesville businesses impacted by the pandemic

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Charlottesville’s Office of Economic Recovery is offering another round of grants for city businesses.

The BRACE (Building Resilience Among Charlottesville Entrepreneurs) Grant is again helping businesses adapt to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Those grants really do come in handy, especially for small businesses,” Angelic’s Kitchen owner Angelic Jenkins said. “As a small business, we’re growing, we’re still trying to grow. So we look for every resource out there.”

BRACE was first released in April 2020. It helped 69 businesses, including Angelic’s Kitchen and Belmont Pizza.

“It enabled us to keep some employees,” Belmont Pizza owner David Passerell said. “We needed that, we need employees, we need to keep the doors open, and that really helped us.”

The intention of the grant last year was to help Charlottesville-based businesses adjust to the beginning of the pandemic. The city recognizes businesses still need help. Environments are still changing.

“When COVID hit, I didn’t know what to think because restaurants were shutting down, and here I am thinking about opening up a restaurant. So with that BRACE grant, it helped. I was able to keep my food truck going and some of the funds from the food truck also helped me open the restaurant,” Jenkins said.

BRACE grants focus on resiliency efforts, and businesses will be chosen based on need and clarity of their application.

An information webinar is set form 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 8.

Applications open Monday, July 12.

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