ANN ARBOR – A local group called the Service Industry Workers of the Ann Arbor Area, or SIWA3, has launched a fundraiser for service workers in Washtenaw County as the holidays approach. “We recognize the plight that service workers are in right now,” said SIWA3 founder Gabrielle Bussell. Since then, she has thrown her efforts into organizing and raising awareness full time for service industry workers in the area. Since the pandemic began, Bussell and her team have received more than 200 testimonials from local service workers about workplace grievances. 5% of workers reported employers refusing to allow sick workers to go home.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Like the city’s small business scene, the hospitality industry in Ann Arbor has also been struggling as the novel coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses to close their doors. But a group of hospitality businesses are working together to make sure workers in their industry are offered some relief. Spearheaded by Robben Schulz -- a partner of Watershed Hospitality Group which owns many hospitality venues in Ann Arbor -- staff members from The Last Word and LIVE Nightclub have been making free meals for out-of-work members of Ann Arbor’s bar community. After the first industry family dinner, he started to receive donations from other Ann Arbor restaurants and bars, and he knew that there was enough food to make a second meal. A 4-person volunteer group has been preparing and handing out free meals for displaced bar and hospitality workers in Ann Arbor.