RICHMOND, Va. -- Bon Secours awarded more than $129,000 in grants to a dozen small businesses in Richmond's East End during a ceremony Thursday.
The funds come from the healthcare organization's SEED initiative, which has awarded 78 grants to 45 businesses totaling more than $900,000 over the past 10 years.
Salon owners, restaurateurs, wedding gown shop proprietors and yoga studios were given money for a purpose that Bon Secours said fits completely with its mission to improve the health and well-being, especially for people who are traditionally underserved.
"Also true is that the way people are able to live affects their health," Becky Clay Christensen with Bon Secours said. "And that's inclusive of affordable housing, that's inclusive of your income and what level you're able to attain. Whether you have to make that hard decision of buying groceries or the medicine. All that goes together."
Officials said the majority of factors for a community’s health are things that happen outside of a medical setting — dubbed social determinants of health. By focusing on small businesses specifically, Bon Secours they believe they can improve a community's vitality.
Thursday's ceremony also recognized the 2021 recipients, who had not been able to celebrate in person.
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