Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh recently announced an additional $350,000 in emergency relief grants to city small businesses. This second round of grants was made possible by the federal CARES Act.

One city recipient struggles with more than the forced shutdowns of his restaurant in the COVID-19 pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • An additional $350,000 in COVID-19 grants are going to 39 Syracuse small, minority-owned businesses

  • Grants range from $2,250 to $10,000 per business

  • In the pandemic, the city has distributed 124 loans and grants to Syracuse small businesses, totaling $1,308,000

Many small businesses have struggled to stay open in the pandemic. Now, the city of Syracuse has reached out to a number of minority-owned businesses by way of grants.

One city recipient struggles with more than the forced shutdowns of his restaurant in the pandemic.

Ullys Mouity and his family immigrated to America from the Republic of Congo 16 years ago. Ullys and his family opened the Taste of Africa Restaurant four years ago.

“It’s hard for any businesses to be able keep up, because you have the stress to not only to make the food, but the overhead; the expenses," Ullys said.

The Mouity family has had numerous struggles during the pandemic -- Not only forced closures, but also burglaries. A display freezer, music system, and cash register are among the numerous items stolen.

"This is where they broke in,” said Ullys, pointing to a blocked and broken door. “When you see things like this happening to you, you think maybe the community doesn’t want you or something. I really question it. But, you know, luckily for me, I didn’t want to stop."

And the Mouity family did not stop. It reinvented.

Ullys opened a new food market selling traditional and international foods.

“This place use to be the dining [area]. So because of the COVID and everything else, we couldn’t dine in, so we turned it into a store,” he says.

The determined family is starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, and they received great news recently: The Syracuse Economic Development Corporation awarded more than $1 million in grants to small, minority-owned businesses, including Taste of Africa.

"Especially the past year, given what they’ve been through in the pandemic, we thought we needed to be intentional reaching out to our small businesses, to our minority and women-owned businesses, to make sure they get the resources they need to recover,” said Walsh.

“You know, this is the first time for me to even get a grant. But it is definitely going to help just for continuing on, just for the business,” says Ullys.

Taste of Africa has seen another boost, thanks to the buzz on social media about a dish they specialize in called Fufu.

"Some young kids started calling about this thing they saw on TikTok about Fufu, and they wanted to try it. So they came and people started coming. And it was good for us," Ullys said, laughing.

Ullys and the Mouitys hope their rich flavor and culture keeps customers coming back.

The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency & Economic Development departments have given away 124 grants and loans to local small businesses and non-profits in the pandemic.