Steadfast L.A. Awards Grants to Fire-Affected Businesses

Rick Caruso’s nonprofit Steadfast L.A. is coming to the aid of more businesses scorched by the Palisades and Eaton fires.

The nonprofit, working with Banc of California, awarded $400,000 to 10 small businesses in fire-affected areas, in a second round of small business recovery grants targeting the hardest-hit communities, Palisades News reported.

The grant includes six businesses in the Pacific Palisades and four in Malibu, Pasadena and Altadena, per CoStar.

The recipients are Beach Side Café, Upstage Catering, The Palisades Dentists, Palisades Garden Café, Juicy Ladies, Vittorio’s, V’s Restaurant + Bar, Altadena Beverage and Market, Knolls Pharmacy and Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center.

Some of the businesses were destroyed or severely damaged in the deadly January blazes, and others dealt with significant losses in revenue as residents that frequented them were displaced.

Steadfast L.A. launched the initiative earlier this year to support local recovery efforts. The program is backed by a $1 million commitment from Banc of California’s Wildfire Relief & Recovery Fund and offers businesses direct grants of up to $50,000.

Since the initiative started in August, $525,000 has been distributed to more than a dozen small businesses across the county. Previous recipients include Webster’s Community Pharmacy, Fair Oaks Burger and Altadena Cookie Company.

All of the businesses benefiting from the latest round of Steadfast funds are grappling with rebuilding delays, labor shortages and steep insurance hurdles.

The initiative’s goal lies in “standing shoulder to shoulder with small business owners who define the character and strength of our neighborhoods,” Caruso said in a statement, adding “Their determination to rebuild is what makes Los Angeles extraordinary.”

As recovery and rebuilding drags on nearly a year after the fires, many small business owners are uncertain when they’ll open, or if they even can at all; some have already moved on.

Caruso’s Palisades Village shopping center is on its way to a grand reopening next year, with tenants like luxury retailer Elyse Walker.

— Chris Malone Méndez