Morningside Barber Shop Needs Your Support!

The Deadly Spread of Covid 19 Shuts Down Small Businesses for Over 4 Months! We are one of Harlem’s oldest Black Owned Family Barbershops! Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic causing the shut down of NYC, we need your support now more then ever!  Morningside Barbershop was established in the late 1960s, and the proprietor is touted to be the First Afro-American Woman in Harlem to have her own barbershop, post-civil rights era and is still going strong 50 years later! But since the pandemic hit, small businesses in Harlem (and everywhere) are suffering.  Many have gone out of business and funding given by the government is elusive! Since our founder, Mrs. Allean Elam opened her doors more than fifty years ago, Morningside Barbershop -- now 3 Generations Family Owned...has established itself as a heavy hitter, especially amongst the other high profile barber shops, watching them open and close over the decades. Here she remains... a staple in the Harlem community. She recently received a letter of recognition on her 93rd birthday from Inez Dickens, the District Assembly Woman, as an entrepreneur and trailblazer in Harlem! She's been written up in the Amsterdam News & interviewed on Spectrum by Ruschelle Boone! Amazingly she’s now 97, still going strong, and retired! She still vividly remembers her wedding ceremony on 116th Street at Mt. Zion Methodist Church in 1946, footsteps away from where she would open her first barbershop two decades later.  Since then, many celebrities frequented the shop, and notable movies used it as a backdrop on set! It is truly a Harlem Landmark. Morningside Barbershop was forced to temporarily close its doors for the first time ever in March of this year due to the spread of COVID 19. Even though our barbershop has not made one dollar since then—and our four barbers were put out of business—the rent for the past four months is still due.  Because of the COVID 19 Quarantine, our landlord has been understanding while we were closed but has since stressed that we need to pay our debt once we re-open. We have always had an impeccable relationship with the Landlord(s) since day one, so we thank God for their kindness! Because of Mrs. Elam's vision failure,  she turned the reins over to her daughter 7 years ago. Jacqueline, with the help of her husband Daniel Belizario have been managing the Family Owned Barbershop and is vested in protecting the legacy her mother built, taking it into the next generation! Barbershops are an Essential part of the community and with your help, we will remain right here in the Heart of Harlem for another 50 years! We are COVID 19 Survivors. We will Rise! We need to pay our $15,000 rent arrears. Please donate as little as $5 or as much as humanly possible!    Thank you in advance for your support! May God Bless you all & stay covered!