BALTIMORE — A morning of shattered glass and lost hope crushed a small business in Patterson Park.
Police are looking for the people responsible for vandalizing several small businesses on the Eastern Avenue side of the park.
This boarded up window tells the story of an already struggling business nearly dealt a finishing blow by vandals.
The owner reached out for help and the community answered.
For Jen Tydings- Running the Patterson Perk Coffee Shop IS A labor of passion. She bought it just before the recession in 2006.
“I slept in here during that time,” Tydings said. “It was really tough, got through that and got back out of it. COVID hit and I would say for us and most the other businesses around here business was down at least half for some people it was down 90% ya know?”
They opened fully for the first time since the pandemic hit two weeks ago.
She says she didn’t get any PPP and none of the grants came through.
“I know that all of us are hurting. I want people to continue to be patient with us. Most of us are still dealing with shortages in staff. We’re dealing with shortages in product. Were dealing with shipping delays. We’re dealing with people having terrible because we’re all having terrible days.”
On the same night someone broke into Bmore Licks, another business down the street and lit a trash can on fire.
She spent the day closed, cleaning up glass and figuring out her next steps.
She was reluctant to reach out for help but felt like she had no other options.
She created a Gofundme to replace her outdoor dining area that was destroyed and to repair the windows.
“I’m going to have to close in order to do repairs so it will go towards keeping my employees here and making sure they are getting paid while I’m closed. That’s been really important. During COVID I was working 4 jobs to make sure I had money to pay people to stay here. So yeah it’s been tough.”
In less than 24 hours the community donated more than $5000.
The last week was an emotional roller coaster with her community helping her get back from this unexpected fall.
“Got married came home to this. Came home to real life. This amount of money will absolutely. It will help make sure we are here for as long as we can be here and hopefully continue to support the community.”
While the owner says she is amazed how quickly they raised their goal, every dollar still counts.
She wants to use some the excess money for more cameras and lighting to help some of the businesses in the area.
Here is a link to the Gofundme.
