BALTIMORE, Md. — If it were about the money, Erica Watkins probably would've thrown in the towel a while ago. But keeping this restaurant open is about her passion - for cooking, and for her customers.
"I used my money from the beginning all the way to now, even through the Key Bridge. Every dime I had, I used," Watkins told WMAR-2 News.
When the Key Bridge collapsed, Watkins saw a big decrease in truck traffic around her business, Miss Erica's Kitchen, located just over the Anne Arundel County line.
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"And I'm gonna be honest, until I actually had to do my taxes and stuff, I didn't realize that it was a tremendous loss," she said. "I could not believe how I stayed open."
But when she heard the Baltimore Community Foundation, the Greater Baltimore Committee, and three local community development organizations were offering 3 million dollars in direct cash grants, she wasn't even going to apply.
"I'm not gonna get it," Watkins recalled thinking. "I was like nah, it's too many businesses that are affected. They're not worried about me."
"We were able to fund about 24 different clients with with this grant funding, but the demand was super high," Steven Primosch, vice president of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corporation, told WMAR-2 News. "We saw - just our organization - saw over 100 applications and there were two other fund managers, Latino Economic Development and Baltimore Community Lending that also made these grants."
In all, 66 businesses - from restaurants and retail to trucking and freight - received grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. And Miss Erica's Kitchen was one of them.
""I started crying. Literally I started crying," Watkins said.
"I mean it's the best part of my job. I spent 10 years in banking before and now helping with grants and loans for small businesses that wouldn't get that capital any other way, it's so fulfilling. It makes me want to get up every day and do my job," Primosch said.
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All of the money comes from the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Key Bridge Fund, which raised more than $16 million last year entirely through private donations.
The grant will help Watkins hire another employee, purchase new appliances, and pay the bills - funding to help keep the lights on, where before there was really only one thing keeping her going.
"Me," she told WMAR-2 News. "I have a good spirit. I believe that tough times don't last forever when you're a good person."
