Lending a Helping Hand.
Our Mission…
Based in Boston and Los Angeles, we are a small group of recent college graduates that believe small businesses are a crucial part of the communities they serve. The Helping Hand Initiative intends to work locally with small businesses in these two cities, focusing our efforts in businesses that demonstrate a commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability.
The Helping Hand Initiative was developed in light of the George Floyd protests and the erupting momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement. Within the exceedingly clear racial divisions of our country lie systemic socioeconomic disparities that continue to disadvantage minorities, and these disparities have only continued to deepen during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected the Black community and other community oriented small businesses.
Financially Support
Our first primary goal is to financially support the small businesses we work with via funds collected through grassroot donations, donation-matching from larger companies, and grants. Providing funding will sustain the growth of community-oriented culture and help these businesses outlast the economic hardships of the current pandemic, as well as promote a more diverse landscape of small businesses for the future. Our funding will be directed to purchasing goods and supplies for businesses in order to buffer increasing costs of services.
Highlight Services
Our second primary goal is to highlight the services and backgrounds of the people and businesses we support. We hope to bring awareness to the ways that individuals can support these businesses to strengthen their community networks and longevity. While our financial support focuses on local businesses, we recognize the importance of supporting diversity and entrepreneurship in online commerce, and plan to use our platform to spread the word about these businesses.
In short, the Helping Hand Initiative is intended to be a vehicle of support for the businesses that our communities need the most. We hope to encourage small businesses to continue to develop and grow their community despite the racial, social, and economic barriers they may be facing. This is one small way that we can all show our local stores and entrepreneurs that community and culture still matter!
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Ian Carter, Guilien Smith & Zoe Leonard
Co-founders