South Barstow Street, Eau Claire.

The sudden, COVID-driven economic recession has hit small businesses and organizations hard. From Washington, D.C., on down to Main Street, there have been many efforts to help them, and among the latter are the COVID Relief Grants announced Tuesday by Downtown Eau Claire Inc.

DECI, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making downtown flourish, awarded a total of $46,500 in grants to 31 recipients (including, we’re grateful to say, Volume One and The Local Store). Each grant is for $1,500.

“Many of our members are small businesses or nonprofits that have faced extraordinary challenges to stay afloat these last few months,” Disa Wahlstrand, DECI vice chair and grant committee member, said in a news release. “In addition to lost revenue because of closures and slower sales, our members are also facing additional expenses as they adjust to safely reopen. Given how important these businesses and organizations are to Downtown Eau Claire, we knew we needed to help.”

According to the news release, “In order to receive a grant, applicants had to be current members of DECI and needed to provide information on how they had been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Most grant recipients can expect to have their payments by the end of the week.”

Here’s a complete list of the grant recipients:

• 200 Main Art & Wine
• Acoustic Cafe
• Ambient Inks
• Brent Douglas Flowers
• Chippewa Valley Museum
• Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild
• Chippewa Valley Tours
• Dhimiters
• Downtown Cinema
• Eau Claire Children’s Theatre
• Grace Skin Studio
• Houligans Steak & Seafood Pub
• Latitude 44 Yoga Studio
• Nicole’s Downtown Salon & Spa
• Odd Humyns
• Offbeats Violin & Guitar Studio
• Pablo Center at the Confluence
• PRAJNA
• Puckabee's Eco-Friendly Grooming
• Raggedy Man
• Ramone’s Ice Cream Parlor
• Red’s Mercantile
• Schleppenbach Family Chiropractic
• Sculpture Tour Eau Claire
• Shift Cyclery & Coffee Bar
• Tangled Up in Hue / Blue Boxer Arts
• The Calico Shoppe
• The Plus
• Tuning Tree
• Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Eau Claire
• Volume One Magazine / The Local Store

For more information contact downtown@eauclairewi.gov or visit DowntownEauClaire.org.