March 2023 Food & Beverage Grant Awarded to Luna y Sol Cafe

We’re excited to announce the $10,000 food and beverage Business Specific Grant winner for the month of March:

A huge congratulations to Selina Barajas founder of Luna y Sol Cafe — a startup business in Tucson, Arizona. Selina is now eligible for the year-end $25,000 Business Specific Grant.

Here is part of what she shared with us:

In Tucson, Arizona there is not one, locally owned coffee shop on the southside of town. Not only will our coffee shop, Luna y Sol Cafe present itself as a much needed niche in a geographic area that has historically seen a lack of investment, it will also be a venture of place keeping… Our cafe will uplift the people who live within South Tucson and nearby neighborhoods. We want to support and bring revenue to a community that has been present for generations and who are now encountering an economic and cultural shift [due to gentrification]… We want to make sure we hire people from the community, teach financial literacy, and make sure we have the tools to build generational wealth within our own communities. We have so much to learn and so much that we want to do. We often feel overwhelmed about where to start, but we are starting this journey anyway!