Yahso opened in 2019 and was a learning experience. Gail calls it her “test kitchen,” in which she learned which Jamaican dishes brought her customers back, and which to adapt for American tastes. She learned about the holiday and school cycles that affect Keene’s Main Street businesses.

She also learned not only that Keene had an appetite for Black food and culture, but that customers traveled from throughout Southern N.H. and even Western Mass. for it.

After one year, she had a choice: She could expand her 20-seat restaurant or lease a larger and more visible space three blocks away. Conversations with the Community Loan Fund turned into a loan that helped her move.

“I immediately thought you were different. When we talked it was about: What does your business need? I got a sense that there was a partnership, beyond just a financial partnership,” Gail says. She also knew she’d need other resources as her business grew.

Yahso moved to the new location in June 2020, just after the pandemic hit, and sit-down dining was shut off. Gail was an early user of online ordering and delivery services, which kept Yahso going until seated dining was allowed.

There were months when she wondered if she’d done the right thing, but as the only Main Street business owner of color and offering Black culture, she says, she felt a community responsibility.

That responsibility extends well beyond Yahso’s walls. Gail is on the local YMCA board and heads up its social justice committee. She volunteers on the city’s ad hoc racial justice committee, which has recommended ways Keene can become more welcoming and diverse, and on the statewide Business Alliance for People of Color.

“That’s my passion—using whatever outlet, whether it’s the business, my professional background, or work on a committee—to move the needle on creating a more diverse and welcoming environment,” she says. “Because I love my Keene community.”

This article was published in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s 2021 annual report.