Laid Off Grit Staff Support

I don't feel comfortable expressing anything that would be considered speaking for the employees or slander because I don't want that to have negative effects on this fundraiser.

However, I would like to share the history and stories I have heard instead:

The Grit was established in 1996 and owned by several people, including Jessica Green and Jay Totty. I have heard that it was a place that was full of punk kids and for people who were making music. The employees were the kind of people that would walk around the restaurant with a 'Jason' hockey mask on their face, just for fun. They would scale the side of the building up into the bakery's window. I have heard that customers were afraid to send food back in fear of angering the cook. It was a place for people to feel connection to music, their fellow musicians, and local community. As it is with any business, it is always the people who serve that cultivate a sense of community within any establishment. The Grit would not have the same reputation nor it's accolades without its people who craved this space for themselves. That includes the person who drank themselves to sleep on the employee's toilet. Or the thieves that take away credit or compensation from their employees over the years. We all have our place in history.

More recently, it was a space for LGBTQA+ people to work with the support of the staff. There have been people who have worked fiercely to protect this space and has given time, resources, and proactively worked to better this environment. Many advocated for correct pronoun usage within the work space, covid PTO, and including front of staff given better wages ESPECIALLY during the pandemic. Many created reasons to come like Indian dinner Nights, Art shows, and connection. The staff has done so much to create the image we, the locals, have known as the Grit. For those who have been able to work here, despite it's many walls of discrimination or tokenism, have found community. Many have found love, lifelong friends, artists, and family. All work spaces has their assholes but this isn't about them.

This fundraiser is about and for the people who have served Athens in this space. The people who have been there for months or 10 plus years. The staff was given an improper notice of unemployment. It has been confirmed that all staff found out from the public Instagram announcement or through their peers, giving them two weeks of notice, with no communication from owner nor generals management.

All workers deserve respect, support, and transparency. Capitalists are going to capitalize but this fundraiser is for the people by the Athens community. While it is sad to see this place disappear without any growth, many people before now have left this space for better lives and I believe that will continue to happen for these people now.

For those coming out to share your personal stories, I hear you and believe you. I encourage you to continue to share your truth.

We're in solidarity with you.