3 minute read
Business
from Harlem Apr 1
by Mike Kurov
HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
Grandma’s Place Uses Momentum of Successful GoFundMe Campaign to Fundraise for Bookmobile
Advertisement
By Marisol Rodríguez
When a close friend told Dawn Harris-Martine, owner of Grandma’s Place, an independent book and toy store in Central Harlem, that over 25,000 children are living in the shelter system in Harlem alone, she was inspired to take action.
Harris-Martine plans to purchase a bookmobile that will offer free books to these families. “We have already gotten donations of books from people in the community, and I plan to make sure the bookmobile is fully stocked,” said the 81-year-old retired schoolteacher.
According to the Coalition for the Homeless over 120,000 people slept in the New York City municipal shelter system in 2020, close to 40,000 of them were children. A growing number of these women and children are entering shelters to escape domestic violence.
On Juneteenth (June 19) Grandma’s Place is planning to host a block party fundraiser with games, music and entertainment in Harlem to raise money for the bookmobile, which costs approximately $50,000. “People are asked to come and participate and donate for the bookmobile,” said Harris Martine. If anyone reading this article knows of an affordable bookmobile for sale, they are encouraged to contact (212) 360-6776.
When the pandemic hit the United States last March, Grandma’s Place was labeled “non-essential” and forced by state mandate to shut down from March through August. It was the first time since the business opened 21 years ago that it had to close down.
“I couldn’t understand how a bookstore and toy store during the pandemic is non-essential when parents are being forced to teach their children at home. That was a mind blower for me,” said Harris-Martine.
As a way to raise money to pay the back rent accrued during its closure, Harris-Martine and her granddaughter Chelsea Grant, Vice-President of Grandma’s Place, started a GoFundMe campaign. They aimed to raise $17,000 and ended up collecting over $46,000 in donations, some of which will be going towards the bookmobile project.
“I always planned to pass the store onto my granddaughter who is now 28 years old and helping me run the store, but at some point, I didn’t know whether that was going to happen. When everybody rallied for me, I decided to keep it open.”
Grandma’s Place is one of the fortunate small minority-owned businesses to survive the pandemic. Harris-Martine gives all the credit to the local and global community that has supported her business over the past year: “The community came to my aid and made me want to go on, they showed up and did what they have to do to support me and I’m so appreciative. That out pouring of people all over the country and all over the world to care about a small bookstore in Harem really made me want to stay open and want to go forward and gave me the hope.”
Grandma’s Place is also expanding its online store (www.grandmasplaceinharlem.com) to include the most unique products of their collection. Such products include multicultural dolls, a source of pride for Harris-Martine who believe that dolls need to reflect the children who play with them. She works with a woman in Florida who specializes in creating bi-racial dolls as well. She also invests time in choosing the books she sells. “The number of positive self-affirming books I come across are very gratifying and we are making sure that we are putting them up on our website,” she commented.
Since the pandemic Harris-Martine has pivoted to sell Pre-K through 9th grade curriculum guides for families who are now playing more of a teaching role in the lives of their children. “I talk to parents all the time on how to use the materials,” she said.
While the store was closed Harris-Martine organized her personal library at home. She has a collection of 100,000 books she calls the “Nurtury.” Since 1993 she has provided one-on-one literacy tutoring for selected children in the neighborhood: “I was really trying to organize my space so that when this was all over, I could go back to working with the kids I needed to work with”
There is also a Grandma’s Place podcast in the works with the help of her grand daughter Chelsea. It will focus on educational topics of concern to parents, including how to get children interested in reading books.
This incredible woman has never stopped working to promote education in her community and she says she has no plans of taking a break anytime soon: “Once a teacher, always a teacher.”
