Shoreline Establishes Small Business And Human Services Support Programs

Press release from the City of Shoreline:

June 9, 2020

On June 8, the Shoreline City Council approved establishing a Small Business Support Program (SBSP) to support Shoreline small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Funding for the $500,000 grant fund comes from State allocated Federal CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds ($410,000) and funds allocated by the King County Council for local business support ($90,000).

Many Shoreline businesses have been unable to access initial CARES Act or other funds before programs were closed due to high demand. Others have found the impacts to their businesses from the COVID-19 emergency is much larger than the relief funding made available so far. To help address this shortfall, the City has developed the SBSP to support Shoreline small businesses.

Grant funds will be for small businesses, which will be defined as businesses with fewer than 25 employees. Businesses meeting all of the eligibility criteria may receive up to $20,000 in grant funding. Applications open on Friday, June 12, apply by noon on Monday, June 22.

For more information, visit the Small Business Support Grant Program webpage.

Human Services Support Program

In addition to the Small Business Support Program, the City is also establishing a $300,000 Human Services Support Program.

Over the past few months, the City has been working closely with community partners to create a robust and comprehensive system for ensuring that everyone in Shoreline has access to food throughout this crisis. The City is allocating $185,000 of the Human Services funding to support access to food for Shoreline families. This includes money for Shoreline School District’s Summer Sack Lunch and Breakfast Program; a Food Gift Card Program; and the Senior Center Meal Delivery Program.

The City will also be allocating $115,000 to provide reimbursement to our human services agency partners for unplanned expenses related to personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 related cleaning supplies and activities. Covering all or a portion of those costs for the agencies will provide them with needed flexibility to use other funds to cover additional direct service or other unexpected and unplanned expenses.

This press release was produced by the City of Shoreline. The views expressed here are the author’s own.