The staff at Broad Street Yoga couldn’t believe the generosity the community was showing them
Credit: WKBN
GROVE CITY, Pa. (WKBN) – As mask mandates and restrictions in Pennsylvania moved back into place a couple of weeks ago, small businesses were back in the unknown. But, the owner of a Grove City yoga studio is able to breathe a small sigh of relief thanks to an anonymous act of kindness.
Broad Street Yoga has been tucked into downtown Grove City for almost seven years. When the pandemic hit and brought new challenges, the beloved studio didn’t know how it would make it through.
“You couldn’t help but cry. You couldn’t help but, you know, mourn something that’s meant so much to so many people,” said Becky Degaaf, an instructor at the studio.
The studio moved to virtual classes but with no new members joining, no money was coming in. Owner Marcy Covert said she was just trying to keep the studio afloat.
“It was very emotional,” she said.
So when Covert’s landlord, Michael Hazy of Hazy Properties, called her in mid-May, a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders.
“I was incredibly moved and overwhelmed that someone would pay the studio’s rent,” Covert said.
Someone had anonymously paid the studio’s rent for the month of June.
“I was actually kind of overwhelmed, just feeling grateful on my end that somebody was willing to just support this network of businesses,” Hazy said.
A few weeks later, a different person called Hazy and anonymously paid for the studio’s July rent. The staff couldn’t believe the generosity the community was showing their studio.
“There is still good in the world, there is still good things happening. There are great people, good landlords and people that will fight for you and people that will fight for their space,” Degaaf said.
For Covert, she said she was overwhelmed with emotion, knowing the community had stepped up to support people like her. She can’t thank them enough.
“Small towns aren’t just saving small businesses, they’re saving Marcy’s yoga studio and they’re saving Joe’s coffee shop. I get emotional about it,” Covert said. “To know that we’re going to be able to come back into this space when the time is right and it’s going to be waiting for us and that all the memories and all the love and all of the work and the sweat and the effort that these walls have absorbed will still be here… It’s a beautiful gift.”
