Last month I received an email from Lorena Escobar Cantarovici, founder of the Maria Empanada chain of restaurants, suggesting we talk about the disparate impacts of the COVID-19 shutdown on local restaurant workers. I put her off then suggesting we wait a few weeks when we would both have a better feel for the fallout from social distancing. Following a few missed messages and the subsequent stay-at-home lockdown across Colorado, we didn’t speak until last week.

I always look forward to discussing nearly anything with Lorena, who blasts through her life with the energy demanded to operate five Empanada eateries. I learned three of these are closed and 70% of her employees have been laid off. She is still offering take-out and delivery from locations at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora and her kitchen on South Broadway in Denver. Maria Empanada missed out on securing a federal loan during the recent tranche of small business grants, but Lorena is optimistic about her chances this coming week. Of course, as an Argentinian immigrant who discovered the American dream remains alive, she is preternaturally optimistic.

Lorena isn’t wasting time worrying about the meteor strike on her business. She has moved on to redesigning it to protect her customers’ safety in a post-pandemic economy. She describes the challenge by observing, “We are all caught in the same storm, but we’re not all in the same boat.” Without the financial resources of a Starbucks behind her, she is planning how to reopen and soon return to expanding her empanada empire. She is not in a rush to do that, however.

Polling by the National Restaurant Association finds that 52% of Americans say they are not ready to venture out for a sit-down meal. “Public psychology has changed. Before the virus, if you drove past a restaurant and there were no cars parked there, you would pass it by and look for one that was crowded. Today, you might turn around and return to the place that is empty and take your chances on quality,” Lorena laughs.

Currently she is worried about the welfare of her furloughed workers. The majority of the restaurant workforce in Colorado is of Latin origin and they are the least protected workers in the state’s economy. They cannot take their jobs home. The first to lose their jobs, few have health insurance and those who are undocumented cannot apply for unemployment benefits. Lorena has been delivering weekly food boxes to employees that worked for her, but she knows these and the $500 cash cards she provided as severance won’t last for long. “There is a human side to every business and those who have helped us succeed are part of my extended family,” she laments, “All of us need to reach out and help each other!”

When her account manager at Shamrock foods noticed that she was suddenly ordering pasta, produce and canned goods, he asked her why? Once she explained that she was using these foodstuffs to prepare food boxes, Shamrock cut her wholesale prices to “cost only” invoices. She won’t be able to keep sending these supplies indefinitely and warns that a civil rights movement is brewing on behalf of marginalized families. “We need to reach out and help each other anyway we can until this storm is past. A lot of people are struggling,” Lorena pleads.

Maria Empanada can’t re-open its closed locations overnight but may offer curbside and delivery service soon. “It’s important we assure our customers they can feel safe at our restaurants and we need to explain exactly how we will protect them,” Lorena adds. That may involve scanning thermometers at entrances and frequent testing of her employees for infection. Dining out will be a different world for all of us. We don’t have to worry about waiting for government regulations. There are ample business owners who recognize that guaranteeing public safety keeps them safe as well.

There are additional storm warnings, however, indicating we still have plenty to worry about. Los Angeles recently announced it was cutting all municipal salaries by 10%. City workers will receive unpaid three-day weekends every other Friday. Here in Colorado, Boulder, Aurora and Littleton have already announced plans to furlough employees. Local governments, special districts and municipalities across Colorado are likely to soon confront what will prove a budgeting massacre. If Congress sends relief funds, much of it will be seized to fund legislative priorities unless our counties and school districts make the case for help. Now would be a good time to start clamoring for their fair share!

The heartfelt decency of business owners like Lorena and loyal customers who continue to patronize Maria Empanada, despite the shutdown, is encouraging about Coloradans. It’s also a good time to order an extra meal from your favorite restaurant.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former legislator. He can be reached at mnhwriter@msn.com.