Wealthy and White by Ed Mitzen

Author:Ed Mitzen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ed Mitzen
Published: 2023-04-27T14:50:20+00:00

A Financial Cushion

Jahkeen had identified Kizzy as one of the Black entrepreneurs in Albany who might benefit from a little assistance. Her restaurant was a neighborhood institution, but Kizzy was running it on a shoestring. Her equipment and furnishings were old, and her landlord hadn’t done much to keep the place looking nice. Kizzy did a brisk takeout business, but she was open only for as long as the groceries she’d bought that morning lasted. If she was open, you were lucky. If you got there late, well, maybe next time. When she first opened, her goal was to make $100 a day. We felt she could do much better if she had a financial cushion that allowed her to expand a little, keep regular hours, and take on more catering jobs, which we felt we could funnel to her.

We were clear that none of this was our expectation. It wasn’t a condition of the grant we gave her. Our intention was just to give her a little relief. Before the restaurant, Kizzy worked as a housekeeper for eight dollars an hour. She used an income tax refund to start Allie B’s, and she’d built it into something wonderful. People who had fallen on hard times could stop by and still get something to eat, even if they couldn’t pay. We didn’t want to mess with that, but we made it clear that if she wanted help, we’d be there for her.

“We believe in what you’re doing, Kizzy,” I told her that day. “This money is to help you pay for things that may have been out of your reach.”

Her hands trembled slightly as she held the check and looked at the number on it. She began to cry. “All my life, I’ve been taking care of others, and no one has ever really been able to look out for me,” she said.

I also explained that we could help in other ways. Restaurant experts Jasper and Beth Alexander were now on our staff at BFG and were available to help Kizzy in any way they could. They could help with ordering, planning, sales, and bookkeeping—all the nonkitchen work that goes into running a restaurant and makes it such a time-consuming process. I said we could help her with marketing and branding. We could rebuild her website, if she wanted, and design a new logo if she wanted. “We do not intend to take over your business or take it somewhere you don’t want to go,” I told her. “This is your baby. What are your goals? Is it to help the community? Is it to get rich? Is it to create a legacy to pass on to your children? Is it your dream to have a bigger, sit-down restaurant?”

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