A quilt shop and childcare center have received a financial boost from a pair of Elevate Women Small Business Grants, which were created to help outstanding female-owned companies on the Coast.
More than 30 nominees applied for the two grants, which will be announced and presented at Elevate 2025: Women’s Small Business Summit on Feb. 7. This grant program was founded by Gulf Coast Woman, in partnership with Hancock Whitney, and provides financial and marketing assistance to two local women-owned businesses.
MEET THE 2025 WINNERS
Block Therapy Quilt Shop
OWNED BY: JESSICA KIMBALL
Received: $1,500 award plus $1,000 in marketing services/ campaigns
Block Therapy Quilt Shop in Gautier launched in 2011 and has become the largest sewing center and quilt shop on the Coast. According to Kimball, this one-stop shop for quilters of all skill levels offers everything from thousands of high-quality fabrics and notions to top-of-the-line sewing machines and classes.
Class offerings range from sewing 101 to advanced quilting skills, as well as garment construction, bag making, machine embroidery and more. The shop also offers in-house repairs for long-arm quilting and Baby Lock machines.
“Our mission is to share the love of sewing with our community,” Kimball says. “We want to make sewing more accessible by focusing on education.” With the grant, she adds, the shop would like to outfit its classroom with Baby Lock BLAE Aerial sewing and embroidery machines — allowing students to develop their love of sewing and embroidery.
Brilliant Childcare and Learning Center
OWNED AND DIRECTED BY: CATHY TATE
Received: $1,000 award plus $500 in marketing services/ campaigns
Founded in 2016, this Gulfport childcare and tutoring business aims to encourage children’s natural abilities and promote their wellbeing. The center’s other goals, according to Tate, are to help working parents with the daily separation from their children by providing a caring, fun and loving atmosphere; to provide a healthy and safe learning environment; and to adequately prepare children for kindergarten.
With the grant funds, Tate says she wants to expand and open another location.
“My desire is to open a tutoring center (and) to expand our business with technology,” she says. “I want to set up a learning center with computers and laptops. This will be used for tutoring.”
The center also wants to host workshops for single moms, Tate adds, who could use the computers to complete applications for childcare and employment. She also would like to bring in an instructor to teach Spanish.