Save Tenderloin Small Businesses

As you know the COVID-19 health crisis has impacted all of our daily lives but has hit small businesses in the Tenderloin especially hard. There are 300 small businesses in the Tenderloin, one-third of which are restaurants, mostly owned by immigrants and working class people.  The Tenderloin’s small immigrant business owners are undercapitalized and face obstacles created by poverty, linguistic and cultural isolation, and rent insecurity. Many of these businesses were just getting by before COVID-19. Now, they are devastated! 


We are facing a crisis and an immediate need!


Closure of Tenderloin small businesses will shatter the lives of their owners and employees who have worked so hard to build a livelihood in the City. Small business owners in the Tenderloin have little or no reserves to fall back on and face imminent bankruptcy.  Some may never reopen. Small restaurant owners in particular are suffering. With a complete loss of business revenue, they have no money to support themselves, their families, or their employees and their investment in their business could be lost.


Shuttered businesses will cause social-health, safety, and well-being in the Tenderloin to deteriorate.  Our local business owners are our eyes on the street, have a direct commitment to the area, and have neighborhood interest at heart. Most importantly, small businesses serve the people who live in the Tenderloin.


This is a call to our community and corporate friends who understand how important small businesses are to a low-income neighborhood like the Tenderloin and to the fabric of the City.


We're raising money to benefit The Tenderloin Merchants Association through the North of Market Neighborhood Improvement Corporation (NOMNIC). Your donations will help fund a small business grant program that will be used to help small businesses pay rent and launch a marketing campaign to help save Tenderloin Small businesses and the families that operate them. Your donations are 100% tax deductible and  businesses DO NOT have to be members of the merchants association to benefit from this grant. This grant is for ALL small businesses in the Tenderloin.  100% of the money will go to the small business grant program. The Tenderloin Merchants Association will cover all administrative costs. 

 NOMNIC’s mission is to transform the Tenderloin into a safe and livable neighborhood for its residents and businesses through economic, social, cultural and education initiatives.  TEDP’s approach is to strengthen the capacity of small, largely immigrant-owned, businesses in the Tenderloin through attracting investment and educating owners about resources and technology that can support their operations. They have been strong supporters of the Tenderloin Merchant’s Association and are our fiscal sponsor.

In Community,
Tenderloin Merchants