WASHINGTON — In the middle of this pandemic, small businesses across the country have suffered. Some may never reopen. Congress has set aside billions in loans and grant, but that doesn't guarantee every small business gets one.
Stay-at-home orders have impacted nearly every business in D.C. The are the ones you hear about the most, like restaurants and shops. There are others that probably aren't on your radar, like dog walking.
"Without travel and without people going into the office, we have a taken a hit," Kim Reed of Patriotic Pet Care said.
That's putting it mildly. Reed said she had to lay off all of her staff -- more than 40 part-time walkers. To stay afloat, she applied for the emergency grant from Congress for small businesses.
"It’s been over three weeks now, and I haven't received any part of the grant," Reed said.
But there was still the Economic Injury Disaster Loan or EIDL program. So she applied to that.
"I was actually denied that because of my student loans and my car loans," she said.
While Reed applied and got denied, it turns out large corporations like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and the Los Angeles Lakers did receive small business assistance.
Then, the SBA grant and loan programs ran out of money. This week, Congress added billions more in funding to refill the program.
Reed said she is appealing the decisions and trying to stay busy.
"Anything I can do to kind of improve the behind-the-scenes is what I am focused on right now," she explained.
It was her dream to run a business she was passionate about: Caring for people’s pets. But it looks like this pandemic hasn’t just threatened those dreams, it's threatened her livelihood.
"Hopefully, things will get back to normal pretty soon," she sighed.
