Serendipity

"Small businesses, obviously the life blood of a town like San Francisco, we give so much in taxes and so much to schools and so much in donations. Because it's maybe not that much money as an individual, it's not recognized, but it's a huge thing. And San Francisco wouldn't be the same without all of those places." - Lisa Sherratt In this episode our featured voice is Lisa Sherratt the owner of serendipity, a specialty gift and card store. Over this past year of producing this series, we have been looking for data on the impact on small businesses from the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic collapse. Since San Francisco’s first shelter-in-place order on March 17 of 2020 to February 9 2021 open small businesses have dropped by over 50 percent according to new data compiled by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Between March to July of 2020 the Hamilton Project estimates that four hundred thousand small businesses nationwide closed their door permanently. 🎧Explore Our Award-Winning Special SeriesIf you enjoyed this episode, dive deeper into our 4-part legacy of impact:Where Art Meets Impact: How creativity drives systemic change. Season 1 and Season 2From Bankruptcy to Reinvention: The story of Stockton’s resilience. COVID-19’s Impact Series: Navigating the pandemic's effect on our community.Making the Invisible Visible: Discover the untold stories of finding home.