When Crisis Hit, TAP Was There

In early 2020, Jessica Larios had just welcomed a new baby and was pushing through the busiest booking season of the year for her Yonkers-based event planning business, Bella's Events. Within weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a standstill. Cancellations poured in, and Jessica feared she would lose the business she had built since 2014.

She reached out to TAP — a nonprofit consulting firm that had helped her with bookkeeping the previous summer. TAP consultants coached her through negotiating directly with her landlord, who agreed to cut her rent in half for six months.

"That was very helpful," Jessica said. "They have also been keeping me informed about all the protections available for small businesses."

Emergency Support When It Mattered Most

Jessica's story was one of many. When COVID-19 hit, TAP rapidly launched free emergency consulting services to help small business owners navigate an unprecedented crisis. Consultants helped owners calculate payroll costs, identify ways to reduce expenses, and apply for SBA Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Of the TAP clients who applied for PPP, 83% received the funds they requested — well above the national average of 66.7%.

Real Businesses. Real Results.

TAP also supported Tiffany Amaya-Cipriano, founder of A Child's Dream nursery school in New Rochelle, who used PPP funds to keep her teaching staff engaged with students through virtual story hours while her school was closed.

And Rob Kissner of Digital Arts Experience in Scarsdale used TAP's guidance to pivot his in-person coding classes to virtual programming — including teacher-supervised Minecraft parties and online group coding classes — keeping his business alive through the shutdown.

A Mission Made More Urgent

TAP was founded in 2012 to support small businesses through the aftermath of the economic recession. Seventy-five percent of the businesses it serves are women-owned, and 33% are minority-owned.

"In a way, our mission from 2012 has become more urgent than ever," said Jane Veron, CEO and co-founder of TAP. "What became clear to us very early on is the need to develop emergency services."

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