News & Stories

The Beauty of Small Business-Providing Light under Any Circumstance

Spotlight on Franny Lou's Porch

From March to September, through the LISC Rapid Relief and Resiliency Fund LISC Philadelphia has provided close to $500,000 in grants to small businesses throughout the Philadelphia region; prioritizing support to Black, Women, PoC, and Immigrant owned organizations. As the effects of the pandemic continue to reverberate, LISC will continue to raise and deploy funds to small businesses. 

Franny Lou’s Porch has always prioritized connecting people to themselves and to the greater power. The East Kensington café opened its doors in 2014 as a place for the community to understand their value and ensure their voice was heard. In the middle of a global pandemic and nationwide protests, owner Blew Kind’s vision for how a coffee shop can transcend food and beverage was ahead of its time.

“We’re not a place to market mainstream thoughts,” Kind said. “Franny Lou’s Porch is more of a place to challenge our thinking and grow as a community and be unified as one instead of being marginalized, like separate and isolated. We aim to nurture the community with our connectedness.”

Franny Lou’s Porch, located at 2400 Coral Street, is named after two influential black women from the Civil Rights movement: Fannie Lou Hamer and Frances E.W. Harper.  They were bold activists during two dangerously different eras in American history — and, unexpectedly, inspired a window and catalyst for the black community in Philadelphia.

“They laid the foundation for who I am as a person, and for who we are as a people communicating the black experience,” Kind said. “As an artist, as a writer, as a musician, as a small business owner … I resonate with everything those women stood for.” As a result, Franny Lou’s Porch is very particular about the products they peddle and the ingredients they source.

“We are still going to shine bright as a small business. I think that’s the beauty of being a creative, and being a small business, is that we can provide light under any circumstance.”

As a result Franny Lou’s Porch is very particular about the products they peddle and the ingredients they source. For starters, they make their own chocolates and syrups in-house and do their best to only carry “fair trade” teas and coffees. Their “Sparrow’s Fall” health tonic is an invigorating house spice blend of cayenne, honey, apple cider vinegar and a “little bit of love.”

“Everything in the store is organic or fair trade — and made with love,” Kind said.

It’s been a struggle to infuse that love since the middle of March. Kind revealed that her coffee shop lost about 70-percent of its business within the first week of restaurants being forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She wasn’t equipped to transition to takeout at the time, nor did Franny Lou’s have adequate outdoor seating. It looked bleak.

“March and April were rough,” Kind said. “We had to completely revamp our business and have a takeout window and install new systems to work the window and different systems for our staff to handle it. Even for the protests, we had to board up the windows … but since we were still open we had to un-board and re-board the windows every day. It also hurt us because we were unable to provide a space for the community like we used to.”

Then, relief came in the form of a $10,000 grant from LISC as part of their LISC Rapid Relief and Resiliency Fund Kind’s creative ingenuity, matched with the much-needed funds, allowed Franny Lou’s Porch to stay open throughout the pandemic and invest in technology for a new online ordering system and outdoor seating. 

More importantly, it helped the café retain its transcendent power as a community gathering spot.