Thinking Long Term: The Next Phase of Welcome to Chinatown
It’s hard to believe Welcome to Chinatown started a mere seven weeks ago with a hopeful dream of finding small but impactful ways to give back to a neighborhood that means so much to us. It began with the idea of providing a single platform to consolidate all of the open businesses for those wishing to support Chinatown, and providing resources to generate cash flow while New York City is on PAUSE.
Today, we have raised more than $110,000 that will all go back to Chinatown small businesses, across three Welcome to Chinatown initiatives. What started as a volunteer team of two is now a team of 20 Asian American professionals with backgrounds in corporate management, research, design, grant writing, finance, marketing, communications and HR who volunteer their time to offer their professional experience to more than 20 Chinatown businesses — and adding more!
Today, we are thrilled to share news about the next phase of Welcome to Chinatown: we are operating in a fiscal sponsorship with Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF), a Maryland charitable trust with tax exempt and 501c3 status.
What does that mean for Welcome to Chinatown? It means more opportunity to give back to the Chinatown community. Our mission remains the same: to support Chinatown businesses following the impact of COVID-19 and serve as a free voice to generate much needed momentum for one of New York City’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Small businesses are the microcosm of Chinatown and we cannot afford to lose that. We want to help Chinatown get back on its feet, but we know we can’t do it alone. We have learned, depended on and also supported many community partners throughout this initiative, and we’re excited to add PPF as an extension of our team and initiative.
Under PPF as our fiscal sponsor, it allows us to deepen our vision to partner with the community through expanded resources and solutions that will future-proof Chinatown businesses. This helps us ensure Chinatown’s history and culture are preserved for future generations to come. We’ll get there by looking at how to mobilize quickly to minimize the number of Chinatown businesses shuttering due to COVID-19; expanding to other projects and initiatives that modernize businesses while remaining true to the business owner’s principles; and reclaiming Chinatown’s rich history and culture and amplifying the voices from within.
What is Welcome to Chinatown’s long-term strategy to achieve the above? We don’t have all the answers today, but we are deep in planning mode and committed to sharing our plans with you as they’re solidified. As always, we strive to provide as much financial transparency as possible, so corporate and individual donors understand how their donations contribute to restoring Chinatown (see how we’re doing that through our latest weekly fundraising update). Some of our best solutions so far have stemmed from community feedback, so feel free to reach out to us with any insights or thoughts. But to start, some ideas we are looking at include: establishing a grant exclusively for Chinatown small businesses to apply for; storefront rehabilitation like updated store branding and interior refreshes; and providing free goods or services to at-risk residents like our elderly population.
We recognize that during these unprecedented times, we don’t know what the future of our world looks like. We do know that there’s a long road ahead to Chinatown’s recovery. We also know that Chinatown is resilient — it always has been and always will be. Your support, whether it be by spreading the word about our initiative, donations or words of encouragement, is what keeps this resilient spirit alive.
With thanks from Chinatown,
Jennifer Tam and Victoria Lee, co-founders of Welcome to Chinatown
