Minority & Women-Owned Small Businesses Eligible for COVID-19 Grants

PROVIDENCE — Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Tufts Health Plan are offering $1,000 grants to struggling RI minority & women-owned small businesses hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligible small businesses affected by the coronavirus can apply through LCR | BizGrow for $1,000 to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE), technology allowing their employees to work safely remotely, and other health and wellness-related support to help their reopening. Funding for this initiative is provided by Tufts Health Plan.

“Support for small businesses during this time is crucial,” said Priya Lane, Director of LCR | BizGrow. “This initiative creates a local and national model for direct support to help reopen and kick-start small businesses. We applaud Tufts Health Plan for their visionary leadership in supporting small businesses which make up much of the fabric of Rhode Island’s economy.”

Small businesses can apply through a streamlined online application process. All applications will be considered and are due by Friday, August 7. The support is designed to help secure masks, cleaning supplies, provide a safe work environment or other critical measures in anticipation of small businesses reopening in Rhode Island.

“Our involvement with Lawyers for Civil Rights is a true collaboration of like-minded organizations with common goals, all with a mission of improving the health and wellness of our diverse communities,” said Rebecca Rosen, director, business diversity at Tufts Health Plan. “Small businesses, particularly minority and women-owned, are on the front lines of this crisis and have been amongst the hardest hit. We’re proud to be part of this program as the funding will, at least in some small part, help local businesses secure much needed items essential to their recovery without significant administrative burden.”

This R.I. program is an extension of Tufts Health Plan and Lawyers for Civil Rights’ collaboration in Massachusetts, which recently supplied twenty $1,000 grants to a diverse group of small businesses across the Commonwealth; 65 percent of which were female-owned, 45 percent Black-owned, 40 percent Latinx-owned, 15 percent Asian-owned and five percent LGBTQ-owned.