TUCSON, Ariz. - The pandemic has brought on hardship not only for small businesses, but also for nonprofits in southern Arizona.
The Loft Cinema isn't your typical movie theater, partly because it is a nonprofit.
“As a non-profit we of course have access to grant money, we have a fairly robust membership program with benefits and members support us, we can accept donations," said Jeff Yanc, who works with The Loft.
Despite having help from other for-profit theaters don't have access to, The Loft has had to deal with challenges brought about by the pandemic.
“We had to decide how are we going to stay in business if we can’t show movies," said Yanc.
Kelly Huber, who works with the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, told KGUN9 she's seen many other non-profits like The Loft struggle through the pandemic.
“I think the sector that’s really seeing the most problems right now is the arts and culture sector," said Huber.
Huber said many non-profits have been forced to downsize on staff or completely change how they operate in order to stay afloat.
Yanc told KGUN9 this is something The Loft had to do as well.
“We had to completely change our business model," he said “we pivoted very quickly to virtual cinema and streaming films."
Huber added that although she hasn't seen a large amount of non-profits close because of the pandemic, she anticipates many may start struggling a bit more in the coming months.
