El Tecolote Vol. 45 Issue 4

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FREE//GRATUITO

Celebrating

45 years

of community journalism

Published by Acción Latina

Vol. 45 No. 4

Febrero 26-Marzo 11, 2015

Future uncertain for small businesses after fire Futuro incierto para los pequeños negocios despues del incendio

Alexis Terrazas El Tecolote

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t may not have been her home, but losing unit 217 to the flames that engulfed the building at 22nd and Mission streets during the 4-alarm fire on Jan. 28 still hurt Karen Van Dine. “Starting completely over from scratch, at this age, it’s pretty devastating,” said Van Dine, who watched in horror from the television as the fire blazed. For 15 years, the 73-year-old’s artistic life’s work was housed in that second floor studio. In a large room that once displayed etchings, drawings and a series that included 112 small boxes with sculptural elements, everything lay drenched and broken along the debris-ridden floor. On her first retrieval trip up to her workplace, she had five minutes to grab what she didn’t lose. Yet others, the dozens of mainly Latino-owned businesses, lost more. “I have complete compassion for my neighbors. They’ve lost their livelihood—their major form of income,” said Van Dine. “I thank God that guy stood up and had a fundraiser for the tenants, because they’re really still in an extremely hard place. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.” That guy was 26-year-old Zack Crockett, who through a GoFundMe campaign raised over $180,000 for the 54 displaced residents at 22nd and Mission streets. Crockett teamed up with the nonprofit Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) to distribute the amount among the displaced families. MEDA steps in Following Crockett’s lead, MEDA kicked off a similar fundraising campaign through Tilt.com for the 36 displaced businesses and 71 employees on Feb. 20. As of press time, MEDA has raised $1,354 of it’s $100,000 intended target. “It’s really a little microcosm of the city,” Van Dine said. “We small businesses, who are really interesting and fun, we’re disappearing. Economically, there are no places for us in the city. There’s no place in the Mission.” “The neighborhood lost a lot that night in the fire,” said MEDA Senior Content Marketing Manager Christopher Gil. “We are trying to help people find spaces throughout the neighborhood, which obviously is not easy in this economy.” MEDA has also formally expressed interest in purchasing the building at 22nd and Mission streets through its commercial real estate team, though Gil acknowledged that talks were preliminary and that a letter of interest has been sent to the building’s landlord Hawk Lou. “There has basically been nothing built for 10 years in the Mission that’s affordable. So we’re trying to do something around that directly,” Gil said. The charred building meets See fire, page 5

1 Photo S. Thollot Alexis Terrazas El Tecolote

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2 Photo Bridgid Skiba

1. Karen Van Dine muestra las piezas de arte que pudo recuperar de su estudio en 2590 Mission Street después del incendio de 4 alarmas el 28 de enero. Décadas de su trabajo fueron perdidas durante el incendio. Karen Van Dine shows some of the art she was able to recover from her art studio at 2590 Mission Street following the 4-alarm fire on Jan. 28. Decades worth of her work was lost during the fire.

3 2 & 3. Muchos negocios en 2590 Mission Street fueron forzados a trasladarse, o enfrentan un futuro incierto, después del incendio de 4 alarmas del 28 de enero. Many businesses at 2590 Mission Street were forced to relocate, or face an uncertain future, following the 4-alarm fire on Jan. 28.

unque no era su casa, perder el departamento 217 tras el incendio de cuatro alarmas que envolvió al edificio ubicado en las calles 22 y Misión el 28 de enero, realmente afectó a Karen Van Dine. “Empezar completamente de nuevo, a esta edad, es muy terrible”, dijo Van Dine, quien observó el incendio con horror desde su televisión esa noche. Durante 15 años, la obra de la vida artística de esta señora de 73 años estuvo albergada en un estudio del segundo piso. En una habitación grande donde alguna vez estuvieron grabados, dibujos y una serie de arte que incluía 112 pequeñas cajas con elementos escultóricos, todo quedó destruido y mojado en el suelo junto a escombros. En su primer viaje hasta su lugar de trabajo para recuperar sus pertenencias, solo tuvo cinco minutos para recoger lo que no se perdió. Mientras tanto, decenas de negocios principalmente propiedad de latinos, perdieron mucho más. “Siento completa compasión por mis vecinos. Han perdido sus medios de vida —su principal forma de ingreso”, dijo Van Dine. “Doy gracias a Dios por ese tipo que organizó la recaudación de fondos para los inquilinos, porque todavía se encuentran en una posición extremadamente difícil. No puedo imaginar por lo que están pasando”. Ese tipo es Zack Crockett, de 26 años de edad, que a través de la campaña GoFundMe recaudó más de $180,000 para los 54 residentes desplazados en Vea incendio, página 5


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