The City of San Diego received 9,000 applications for the Small Business Relief Fund this week and now business owners are hearing the federal relief from the Small Business Administration has been almost completely exhausted too.
Niki Diggs has had to close her massage therapy business for weeks to adhere to the stay at home order.
"I have a very hands-on business, so I can’t touch anyone and so I haven’t been able to generate any revenue since this all started," Diggs said.
She hasn't paid her April rent and has applied for relief from the city and the federal government.
"I mean I completely support the social distancing protocols…but it's also so hard that you’re choosing between health and making money," she said.
Downtown, Sara Tenorio is worried that she's going to have close down the business she's worked for almost four decades to build. She's dipped into her personal savings to pay her rent and received almost $2,000 from her long time clients who are trying to save her dream.
"This is something that helps people to keep going….I’m sorry and I’m very grateful to have all those people in my life, they are like angels," Tenorio said.
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Even though she says she can only last one more month on her savings, she doesn't think it's a good idea to go back to work just yet.
"You can lose the house, you can lose the business, but if you lose your health, if you lose your hope, then it's not going to be worth it," she said.
San Diego officials have made it clear that they don't want to reopen the economy too soon. The last thing they want to see is another wave of positive cases and deaths.
