A Denver small business owner is furious after the city denied her grant application to help alleviate some of the costs related to a nearby homeless encampment despite meeting all eligibility criteria.
“During this whole camp situation, they said the funds would come and not to worry about everything,” Samantha Menendez, co-owner of the “One Shot Back” bar in the Mile High City, told “FOX & Friends Weekend” on Sunday. .
“[There were] Over 200 tents around our business and we basically got nothing,” he continued. “In the end they didn't give us anything and we had to go through eight crazy months and we didn't get anything, so it's a bit sad to be quite honest. “
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Downtown Denver skyline, photographed from the rooftop of the Jacquard Hotel in Denver, Colorado, on November 15, 2018. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Deborah Cameron, Director of Business Development for the Denver Office of Economic Development and Opportunity, addressed the concern, saying, “We definitely understand how frustrating it is for businesses when they meet the eligibility criteria, but we simply don't have enough funds to distribute them around.”
According to Menéndez, the problem was much deeper than homelessness.
Drug deals, prostitution and physical criminals remained outside his door. The conditions drove away customers and proved disastrous for business.
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People experiencing homelessness gather as crews work to clear a homeless encampment in the RiNo neighborhood near the Platte River on May 17, 2022, in Denver, Colorado. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images))
“I was physically attacked inside my own bar by the same people who were sitting outside my bar, so of course no one wanted to come there,” she said.
“There are people right across the street who couldn't even get to our door, so the decline was pretty quick. The first three months it was fine. After that, it was pretty aggressive for business to decline.”
Despite being rejected, she claimed that all surrounding businesses received $15,000, funds she believes could have produced better benefits if they had been distributed among more establishments.
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“Three thousand companies applied, only 69 got them…” he said. “It doesn't change anything for us.”
Although the camp no longer exists and the bar thrives in its absence.
Menendez said that doesn't mean he won't return as the seasons change, but in the meantime, the goal is to “keep moving forward.”
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