Covid-19 has devastated small businesses across the United States. The Junkie Monkey’s Resale Shop, owned by Mike Cardinal and fiancé, Nikki Elftmann, is no exception. Mike is a 1990 graduate and life long resident of Grand Blanc. He needs some hometown help! Please read their story, look at their beautiful family, and make any donation you can. From Nikki: The Junkie Monkey’s Resale Shop opened for business in June of 2018. It’s owned and operated by Mike Cardinal and Nikki Elftmann. We are a blended family with 3 grown daughters and 3 small children ages 11, 7, and 6. We primarily purchase storage units that go up for auction to fill the inventory in our store. We carry furniture, tools, kitchen items, home decor, sporting goods, and outdoor items. In May 2019, we became vendors for Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint. Dixie Belle Paint Company is a US family owned and operated business. We feel it’s important to support other businesses while creating our own niche in the resale market. We also offer custom paint services using Dixie Belle. We have also added More Than Candles (soy candles) to our product line. Starting our own business has been an adventure but not without sweat and tears. In the spring of 2019, the city began a 3 month long project resurfacing the road. While the new road is great, our business slowed significantly during the process. The GM strike in September also impacted business. With the closing of non essential businesses in March 2020, we were forced to close our doors and our income. We applied for grants/loans through the State of Michigan and were denied because there was not enough money to cover all the businesses that applied. In Genesee county alone, over 1500 small businesses applied but only 54 received assistance. We applied for the Small Business EIDL loan and because they are so slammed, we haven’t received any call back. We applied for the PPA loan and were very hopeful. Our banker assured us the underwriters would be calling us soon. On April 16th, we were informed that the money allotted for small businesses had run out. We have applied for unemployment and neither of us has received any assistance. While it was not easy to accept Greta’s offer of setting up a Go Fund Me, we are completely out of options.