A total of $135,000 in recovery grants will be given to three merchant associations that were affected by the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Brown, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced on Monday.
The City of Providence will offer each association a grant of $15,000, which will be matched by Rhode Island Commerce and the University, totaling $45,000 each. The funds will be directly awarded to the merchant associations with no specific uses outlined by the City, wrote City of Providence Spokesperson Michaela Antunes in an email to The Herald.
The funds aim to help counter economic challenges faced by the associations following the shooting, such as “reduced activity and ongoing operational challenges,” the press release added.
The grants also aim to restore consumer confidence, according to Giselle Mahoney, chief of communications at Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Commerce. “Commerce’s decision to provide matching funds — alongside the City of Providence and Brown University — reflects a shared commitment to supporting our communities,” Mahoney wrote in an email to The Herald.
The grant money will be awarded to the Thayer District Merchants Association, the Wickenden Area Merchant Association and the Wayland Square Merchants Association, whose small businesses were “disproportionally” impacted by the shooting, according to the press release.
“From the earliest moments of the heartbreaking tragedy that took the lives of two Brown students and injured nine others, Brown’s neighbors in Providence provided crucial help to students,” said President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 in the press release.
East Side Pockets, a restaurant on Thayer street, donated food to law enforcement and first responders following the shooting. “East Side Pockets has always supported the Brown and Providence community, and during difficult times we try to be there in any way we can,” wrote Paul Boutros, owner of East Side Pockets, in an email to The Herald.
Kabob and Curry, another restaurant on Thayer street, provided free meals to Brown students and community members the day after the shooting, wrote Nitesh Malhotra, one of the restaurant’s managers, in an email to the Herald.
“Our goal is to continue operating, pay our rent and cover all other business-related costs on schedule,” Malhotra wrote. He added that the grant funding could help assist the restaurant with covering ongoing expenses that are “not going to go away.”
Providence’s business community was “deeply affected” by the shooting, Antunes wrote, noting that the small businesses in Thayer, Wickenden and Wayland Square received less customers during “one of the most important sales periods of the year.”
Businesses have also experienced reduced business hours and ongoing concerns for safety, making it “difficult to recover momentum heading into the winter months,” Antunes added.
“We are tremendously grateful to our neighbors in Providence for all they have done both immediately on Dec. 13 and in the weeks following,” wrote University Spokesperson Brian Clark in an email to The Herald. “When the City shared plans to assist merchants whose businesses were affected during the holiday season, we were grateful for the opportunity to contribute.”
Pavani Durbhakula is a senior staff writer and photographer. She is a first-year from DC and plans to study IAPA and Public Health. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading, and searching for new coffee shops.
