The smell of red enchiladas and Peruvian lomo saltado filled the kitchen as Maria and Luis Ramirez cooked non-stop.
They seasoned pound after pound of chicken and thin-cut steak, warmed up dozens of tortillas, and stirred a few liters of salsa in their Bloomington, California, home.
It’s not anybody’s birthday or wedding or a holiday. This is how they are making money to survive a pandemic.
Jewelers by trade, they should be polishing gems. Instead they are polishing off meals to go.
“It happened so quickly that one day we were business owners and the next day we were unemployed,” Luis Ramirez, 49, told CNN.
The Ramirez family shut their two Southern California jewelry stores last month when most Americans began staying home and non-essential businesses were ordered to close as the novel coronavirus spread through the United States.
Hundreds of thousands of people like the Ramirez family have become gig workers or joined the informal sector after unexpectedly losing their jobs or being forced to close their small businesses.
After selling and repairing bracelets, necklaces and rings for nearly three decades, Maria Ramirez, 51, is starting from scratch with the help of her five children, some of whom have temporarily returned home from college. They are selling Mexican and Peruvian food for $10 a plate and making as many deliveries as they can around their neighborhood.
Just thinking about the empty parking lot at her Fontana, California, jewelry store makes Ramirez’s voice tremble. It’s because she had to say goodbye to years of work, she says, and start over.
They are making hobbies their jobs
Jace Quil used to grab her iPad and sketch cartoon-like figures with big, expressive eyes to relax after working as a substitute grade school teacher in Nashville.
Then schools closed and officials — unclear whether it would be safe to reopen — decided to keep students at home for the rest of the school year.
Her hobby has become her main source of income as she hasn’t received government aid. She filed her first tax return earlier this year after graduating from college but it hasn’t been processed so she hasn’t received one of the federal government’s stimulus checks.
After selling and repairing bracelets, necklaces and rings for nearly three decades, Maria Ramirez, 51, is starting from scratch with the help of her five children, some of whom have temporarily returned home from college. They are selling Mexican and Peruvian food for $10 a plate and making as many deliveries as they can around their neighborhood.
Just thinking about the empty parking lot at her Fontana, California, jewelry store makes Ramirez’s voice tremble. It’s because she had to say goodbye to years of work, she says, and start over.
They are making hobbies their jobs
Jace Quil used to grab her iPad and sketch cartoon-like figures with big, expressive eyes to relax after working as a substitute grade school teacher in Nashville.
Then schools closed and officials — unclear whether it would be safe to reopen — decided to keep students at home for the rest of the school year.
Her hobby has become her main source of income as she hasn’t received government aid. She filed her first tax return earlier this year after graduating from college but it hasn’t been processed so she hasn’t received one of the federal government’s stimulus checks.
When Quil was in college, she occasionally sold portraits to pay for food, book expenses or just to have some extra cash. For the first time, she’s focusing on trying to monetize her drawings, hoping to make enough to cover her bills.
Quil is drawing custom digital portraits of real or fictional people, original characters and anthropomorphic animals for up to $35. She’s asking friends and anyone she can reach on social media but it’s a stressful and mostly intimidating task, she says.
“I feel like I’m never producing enough or advertising enough,” Quil said. “And lately the only commissions I’ve gotten are from friends who want to support me so it makes me feel guilty.”
Like Quil, many workers are using social media and other online platforms to earn money by sharing their skills. Musicians are performing on Facebook Live for tips, chefs are offering one on one classes, and bartenders are picking up yard work
