Hi Revealer,

Since the start of the pandemic, Reveal has worked tirelessly to expose the ways in which the U.S. government failed to protect us, from grocery clerks and McDonald’s employees to nursing home residents and the undocumented.
Now, we’re bringing you a new investigation into inequities within the federal Paycheck Protection Program. As of April 25, 2021, the program has distributed more than $770 billion in loans to businesses across the country. It’s among the largest interventions in the U.S. economy since the Great Depression.

For months, we sifted through data, talked to banking experts and interviewed struggling business owners. This kind of deep, collaborative work takes time and money, and we depend on your support to do it.

For the last year, we've heard stories about small businesses in communities of color being left behind by the PPP. Fueled by the generosity of our members, we dug deeper to report on the disparities within major metro areas across different communities of color.

Our reporting took us to Los Angeles, where banks disbursed $26.5 billion to small businesses last year. 

For weeks, we called business owners to understand the obstacles they faced in obtaining this help. We got to know them, their customers and their businesses, which form the fabric of the communities they serve, from bookstores and boutiques to taquerias and barbershops. As you’ll hear in the episode and read in the story, Reveal prioritizes centering the stories of the people most directly affected by the issue.

To support our ongoing work to reveal how the pandemic earned its nickname “the Great Unequalizer,” please donate today. For a limited time, if you donate $50 or more, you’ll receive a copy of In/Vulnerable, our comic series that captures both the shared experience of the pandemic and the ways it has laid bare the stark disparities that shape our lives.