BALTIMORE — Restaurants are the backbones of communities across the country. They bring us to the freshest bodies of water, different countries, and the most unique spaces without leaving the comfort of our neighborhoods. Three years after the start of the pandemic, restaurants are still fighting to stay alive.

A year ago, we visited Baltimore to check in on restaurants that never received their funds from the government's Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and now, a year later, we are checking in.

Every restaurant has something different their customers always come back for. Here in Baltimore, it's likely you'll find it to be seafood. However, those signature flavors disappear if a business can't stay afloat. The Local Oyster is one restaurant that worries about its future.

"The Local Oyster started in 2015. We have been shucking oysters and serving crab cakes for the last seven years," said Patrick Hudson, one of the owners. "We were not generating any revenue; we were simply incurring losses and debt throughout the entire pandemic."

The Local Oyster has already had to close one of its locations in Arlington, Virginia. The restaurant's last spot remains standing, but shakily.

"Thinking about business before COVID is sort of like thinking about college; it was just a haze. It's like I can't even really remember what it was like. It's just so different," Hudson said.

Hudson says they are one of the thousands of businesses who saw their approval for the restaurant revitalization fund revoked last year. Congress provided $28.6 billion in grants, but funding dried up and two-thirds of the restaurants that were approved for funding received nothing.

"What that does is it leaves the local oyster in a position where we have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt going forward, and to be honest, I don't know how sustainable that is. I don't know if that's going to last," Hudson said.

It's been over a year since that bad news was delivered, but the ripple effects of the pandemic continue to affect them every minute, of every day.

"And it's kind of surreal and people will come up to me during service and say, 'Well, I'm really glad you survived the pandemic' and I just have to shake my head," Hudson said. "We're gonna be struggling with the impact of the pandemic for the next generation of restaurant owners."

Damye Hahn runs Faidley's Seafood just a few minutes down the road.

"It would be like equating you to having a year and a half worth of mortgage payments that you haven't been able to pay, and all of a sudden, you get a job. Well that you're gonna be able to pay your mortgage, but that year and a half of mortgage payments is still hanging out there," Hahn said. "We just felt like the hits just kept coming and once we thought everything was beginning to get better than this incredible inflation hit. And it has been difficult again."

They've been in business for more than 130 years. Yet, these last few have been unmatched.

"We've had to raise prices. We've had to cut items off the menu that we can't carry anymore because they are just too expensive," Hahn said. "Fishing, it's been terrible to try to get fish because the poor guys, all their boats are diesel, and the diesel is outrageous. Fish and seafood have gone up dramatically. Some of it two and three times what we paid in 2019."

These are the kinds of roadblocks that can change a restaurant's identity.

"We consider ourselves really ambassadors of the Chesapeake region, so we make sure that we gave local fish, local crab, local oysters, real local seafood," Hahn said.

It worries Hahn about the future of the industry.

"This industry is so important because we tell the story of the Chesapeake, but there's restaurants that tell stories of the farms and other industries," Hahn said.

PORTLAND, Maine — For almost two decades Dean's Sweets has been serving the locals and visitors of Portland, Maine, alongside the dozens of people who order online.

"My husband Dean and I started this business just about 18 years ago and we started it in our home kitchen," said Kristin Thalheimer Bingham, the co-owner of Dean's Sweets.

All these years later, they are facing the reality of inflation and many businesses like them are heading into a crucial season for business.

Bingham said about 50% of their revenue is made during the holiday season.

"The supply chain has gotten to be more of an issue recently," said Dean Bingham, the co-owner of Dean's Sweets.

"Especially in this last eight months, nine months, 2022 everything has just kind of shot up and skyrocketed," Thalheimer said. "We were taken a little bit unaware by even just a few months ago. To see that sugar has increased 10% to 15% last spring and then it increased again over the summer, same with chocolate."

That's along with other items like cocoa, butter, cardboard, packaging and shipping materials. It's all making them question if it's time to raise their prices.

"I think we're going to take another good look at it as we head into the holiday season," Thalheimer said.

They say it's not something they want to do.

Thalheimer worries a rise in prices could change that and cause people to skip purchasing that chocolate gift.

"I'm as aware as anybody else about inflation and I hate to be one of the contributors but on the other hand if all of my costs are going up I cannot afford to stay in business if I'm not recouping my costs and making a little money for myself," Dean said.

They've tried to ease the pain in other ways.

"For a long time I thought my mantra was, make more sell more and you sort of make up for the increase in price by volume but we're starting to realize that you can't do that," Dean said. "Volume has costs associated with it too because the more that you sell, the more you need to buy and the more help you need."

Buying that treat is attached to a sense of happiness they don't want to see disappear and a moment of magic they hope a rise in cost won't ruin.

"I've always felt that chocolate was one of those things that you may not buy a pound but you can buy one or two pieces and that's going to help you get through some of the stresses of the other difficult times," Dean said.

"We are always conscious of the fact that we want to be a place where people can come and get a little gift for somebody and find something nice for themselves so we want to keep it that way," said Thalheimer.

DENVER, Colo. — Looking clean and pristine was once the standard of travel.

"These folks are the best. No matter who I get every time I have time when I'm in Denver, I always stop and get a shoe shine," said one pilot at the Denver airport.

It's what veteran pilots have always known.

"I know it doesn't look like it by looking at me, but I've been doing this for 27 and a half years," said another pilot.

However, time has shifted and fewer less travelers are gliding through the airport in tip-top shape. Jill Wright, the CEO of Executive Shine, has watched it happen the first time and that's why her business has stood the test of time.

"The world's changed a lot," Wright said. "We have a saying that we say is: 'what does love look like here, for the person in front of you right now,' and that's how our whole business runs."

You don't need your fanciest pair of shoes to stop by! Your leather sneakers or favorite boots will certainly suffice.

"Those are the trends that have shifted. It's gone from really stiff to really soft, and I think that's kind of symbolic for what's happening with people," Wright said.

To Wright and her team, a shiny pair of shoes is simply the cherry on top. This business, in the center of the Denver airport, is about connection.

"I mean it literally gives me life to have you guys come back and see us again. Just knowing that I touched your day in a special way," said Tara Soto, an employee at Executive Shine.

People share their stories as they sit down.

"These boots I actually got while I was in Germany visiting my grandma," one woman explained.

We've learned many airline staff won't go anywhere else in the country.

"The only place I've gotten my shoes shined is here," a pilot told us. "We all know when we buy our next set of shoes gotta go through Denver."

Wright says it is rare people are given the opportunity to share and the employees, sitting in front of them, really care.

"People still need to be seen and be appreciated for who they are," Wright said.

"It goes deeper than the shine for me for sure," Soto explained.

Soto says shoes are a metaphor for how people judge themselves.

"When you look at your shoes, you come up and you're like, 'Oh, they look so good,' and there's a little bit of color off the tips of the toes or they are not in the best shape, ya know, sometimes that's how we as people look at each other or even ourselves," Soto said. "Just dirty, without purpose, trying to find your worth, trying to find your beauty that you have inside."

It's a journey she's personally experienced, working here for nearly a decade.

"Going through the transformation of cleaning them and conditioning them is really a personal transformation that we go through in life too," Soto said.

We all know the saying to walk in someone's shoes and in this case it's connecting sole to soul.

"Always put yourself in the shoes of someone else," Wright said.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — In a country with so much diversity, around 8.75 million people identify, at least partially, as American Indian or Alaska Native.

In Minnesota, a state with more than 100,000 of those residents, the Dakota people have the largest presence.

Shelley Buck, who has devoted her life to her culture and tribe, serves as the president of Friends of the Falls. She is pushing to transform the heart of Minneapolis' Central Riverfront into an iconic destination honoring Indigenous history.

Friends of the Falls has been working with the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park Board and Dakota nations to possibly reassume ownership of a historic stretch of the city's downtown riverfront that was traditionally a Dakota sacred site.

"I want it to be a place of healing, connecting and reconnecting," Buck said. "A place for education where we can educate the people about things they weren't taught growing up and also that community building."

Dakota people went to Owámniyomni, meaning turbulent waters, for ceremony and women traveled to Spirit Island to give birth. Both sites have since experienced extensive damage and destruction.

"Friends of the Falls did a ton of work to arrive at a vision for what this place could ultimately be, that would highlight it in a way that would set us apart as a city and sets this particular destination apart from anything else you'll find in the rest of the country," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Frey says acknowledgment of the lost history is one part of the process. He said another part is rectifying broken treaties.

"This is an opportunity for us to use that same legal system that did wrong to do right," Frey said.

Buck points out it's rare for people to want to help tribes get their land back.

"And saying, 'Here you go, it's your project. It needs to be native-led and native-focused, have at it.' You never hear about that," Buck said.

This project began with non-native people. People like Kjersti Duval, the CEO of Duval Companies, which is a real estate development and policy solutions company, first helped to protect the site.

"I was really one of those folks that were there at the beginning," Duval said. "The initial push was to prevent the site from further industrialization."

Quickly, native leaders were brought on board. One of the biggest hurdles is working to change land ownership.

"It has been extremely difficult to move this very small piece of land from federal ownership to local ownership. Like I said, seven years, it should be easier," Duval said.

These leaders want their work to be encouraging and emulated in other parts of the country.

"Great opportunity to touch people to have something that was once invisible become very visible, become a learning opportunity," Duval said.

"I'm excited for this to be a one-of-a-kind and really something that can help other states work towards," Buck said.

Hide Transcript
Show Transcript

RISKS. WITH THE PANDEMIC NOT OVERND A EAT OMICRON VARIANT SURGING, WVTM 13’S XAVIER HARRIS TELLS US HOW AIR BNB IS DOING ITS PART TO MAKE SURE ITS CUSTOMERS HAVE A SAFE NEW YEAR'S’EVE. >> FOR ONE-NIGHT RESERVATISON GUESTS WITHOUT A HISTORY OF POSITIVE REVIEWS ON AIRBNB’S ARE PROHIBITED FROM MAKING THOSE RESERVATIONS. >> LIZ FUSCO SAYS MANY PEOPLE ARE NOT HEADING OUT TO CELEBRATE THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE RGINIS ACES OF COVID. SOME ARE RENTING HOMES TO HAVE SMALLER PRIVATE PARTIES INSTEAD. >> THINK TWICE BEFORE THEY WOULD THINK ABOUT USING A RESERVATION FOR THAT. >> FUSCO SAYS THIS IS A PROBLEM THE COMPANY NOCETID OVER THE YEARS FOR MANY AREAS, INCLUDING BIRMINGHAM. >> IN BIRMGHINAM ALONE, DURING LAST NEW YEARS EVE IN WHICH WE EMPLOYED SIMILAR PROTOCOLS, THERE WERE ACTUALLY MORE THAN 100 RESERVATIONS THAT WERE BLOCKED. >> WHEN NEW YEAR’S EVE TSGE CLOSER, AIRBNB SAYS IT WILL DEPLOY MORE STRICT RESTRICTISON ON TWO-NIGHT RESERVATIONS, WHICH COULD INCLUDE BLOCKS FOR LAST-MINUTE BOOKINGS IN CERTAIN AREAS. >> WE WANT TO SEND A MESSAGEO T OUR HOST COMMUNITY THAT WE WANT TO SUPPORT THEM AND TO THE WOULD-BE PARTIERS THAT WE WON’T TOLERATE THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR ON OUR PLATFORM. >> THE COMPANY SAYS THEY HOPE THE NEW YEAR’S EVE RESTRICTIONS BEING PUT IN PLACE DUE TO THE ONGOING PANDEMIC WILL LITMI DISRUPTIONS FOR AIRBNB HOSTS AND LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD

Airbnb says it will 'crack down' on New Year's Eve parties

Updated: 9:22 PM EST Dec 29, 2021

Airbnb changed its policy just ahead of New Year's Eve. Many people are not heading out this New Year to celebrate because of the rising cases in COVID-19. The short-term vacation rental booking company announced it will extend its party ban to 2022 with a few new restrictions – all in the name of public health and safety. For one-night reservation guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb, they are prohibited from making those reservations. Watch the video above to find the full story.

Airbnb changed its policy just ahead of New Year's Eve. Many people are not heading out this New Year to celebrate because of the rising cases in COVID-19.

The short-term vacation rental booking company announced it will extend its party ban to 2022 with a few new restrictions – all in the name of public health and safety.

For one-night reservation guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb, they are prohibited from making those reservations.

Watch the video above to find the full story.