Infusion Clothing crowdsourcing to maintain business

WASILLA — Infusion Clothing and Lifestyle Company owner Ruth Villanueva recently created a GoFundMe page to help maintain her business. She said it’s been a challenging few years and the COVID-19 outbreak has pushed her to the financial brink, making it “near impossible” to keep the boutique going.

“If we make it through this, it will be a miracle,” Villanueva said.

Infusion has been around since 2007. Villanueva said recent financial hardships like the time a vehicle crashed into the building and her ongoing medical needs have already made maintaining the boutique a challenge.

“On top of the circumstances, COVID-19 hit,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said that she’s already received a spectrum of feedback from the community, ranging from sharp criticism to warm support. She said that she created the page to essentially serve as a gauge for the community’s interest, to see how much the locals want to see the shop continue.

“I gotta at least let them know what the need is… they can decide to support us if they can,” Villanueva said. “If this is something that people value in their town, I’ll keep it going.”

Villanueva is currently recovering from kidney cancer treatment, dealing with chronic pain and fatigue on a daily basis. She’s also the only one working at the shop because her business partner has a serious lung infection and cannot risk coronavirus exposure.

Due to the crisis, no other employees are working at the boutique, save Villanueva’s daughter, a college student who’s able to help out for a few hours a week.

“Other than that, it is just me,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said that she’s doing everything she can to keep Infusion alive but that’s getting harder each day, particularly having to work around state health mandates for non-essential services and with her compromised immune system.

“It’s making it extremely difficult to pay our bills,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said that she’s trying to pursue every avenue of potential support, including federal and local loans. She said that so far, it doesn’t seem like those are going to work. She said that she doesn’t like asking for help like this.

“It’s very hard for me to do,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said that any amount donated to her campaign will be greatly appreciated. She said all the funds go toward resources they currently need and for the coming months, helping them pay rent and other bills. She said it can also open up an opportunity to hire additional help, maintain an adequate inventory of clothing, and ideally, provide more jobs in the near future.

“There are so many great people in this community, and it’s because of them, I can keep going,” Villanueva said. “It’s made all this stuff worthwhile.”

Villanueva noted that any small businesses owners who rely on selling goods at local shows that have been cancelled due to COVID-19 are more than welcome to reach out. She said that while she cannot help financially, she can certainly promote their business in and out of her store.

Infusion is currently operating with limited hours, running from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Villanueva said they prefer that people call ahead to make an appointment before walking into the store.

For more information, call 907-357-2033.

So far, a total of $1,345 toward the $7,500 goal was raised by 16 donors.

To view the GoFundMe page, visit gofundme.com/f/help-infusion-clothing-stay-alive?fbclid=IwAR3u9-nNKdRRwgKF8gV7kijRMnLfgwO9w_zjq2g13R6QVIeoRe4_smDPXNk

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com