Nonprofit G.I.F.T. supports Black-owned businesses through community empowerment
Community-funded nonprofit supports Black-owned businesses
and last updated 2020-12-30 23:46:55-05
KANSAS CITY, Mo. â Nika Cotton pours comforting creations at her tea room, Soulcentricitea, seven days a week.
She helps her customers decide on a concoction that suits their mood for the day. I have lemon balm, which is really calming, Cotton said to her guests.
She envisions her space at East 30th Street and Troost Avenue will serve many functions in the community. A space of comfort, also empowerment, Cotton said. I m a community organizer at heart and so it s really my passion to create a space that can be a space that brings people together to organize to do the things we want to see in our community.
and last updated 2020-12-30 17:48:29-05
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) â Business is up for some consignment stores and thrift shops in the area.
âWe have been selling things like crazy,â owner of Hertel Home Consignment Michael Chamberlain said.
The hot commodity â furniture! Chamberlain said that is because many big furniture stores are currently back-logged with orders.
â[Customers] have to wait 23 weeks for furniture to be delivered to their homes, or even, get to the furniture store that they were purchasing it from, he said.
Chamberlain said that has led many customers to shops like his.
Brian Monaco, the national operations manager for AMVETS said, his furniture sales are up by 20 percent.
Regional Coalition offering free tech and digital classes for up to 3,000 Western New Yorkers
and last updated 2020-12-29 17:44:34-05
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) â At a time when the pandemic has put so many people out of work, nearly a dozen organizations have joined forces to create the Western New York Tech Skills Initiative, a free online training program for unemployed and part-time workers.
âWe recognize that there is a real need, and hardship in the community, and we wanted to offer this virtual skills training experience,â Senior Technology Manager at M&T Bank, one of the organizations involved in this coalition, Sarah Tanbakuchi said.
Kansas City-area residents still struggling to find jobs during pandemic
Finding a job during the COVID-19 pandemic is still a struggle many face on a daily basis.
and last updated 2020-12-28 19:39:18-05
KANSAS CITY, Mo. â Finding a job during the COVID-19 pandemic is still a struggle many face on a daily basis. It s been really rough for me because I thought I d be able to go back to working, Sarah Price, who is unemployed, said.
Price isn t going back to her normal 9-to-5 job. I m a heart patient. So I am high-risk, she said. I can t go back into public work. So it s been hard trying to find a work from home (job).
Herbert said meth use had become a ’significant factor ’ in Canterbury s domestic violence statistics that have been rising since Covid-19. “It is up by 30 per cent,” she said. “Coercion is a big thing we are seeing more of. “Gangs use a tactic where people are given meth for free, they become addicted, and then they get into bad debt which causes them to be at risk of violence from people collecting that debt. “In extreme cases we are now seeing young women forced into prostitution to pay back that debt.” Jan Spence, manager of alcohol and other drug services at the Christchurch City Mission, said it had also experienced an increased number of referrals for addiction treatment since the Covid-19 lockdown period.