When her restaurant's windows were smashed, #lovelondonproject was the response

Most people would forgive Angie Murphy for responding with anger. 

On May 16, the co-owner and head chef of Grace restaurant on Dundas Place in London was awakened in the wee hours to a notification from her alarm company. 

She scrambled out of bed to the restaurant to find glass everywhere outside the eatery at the corner of Dundas and Clarence Street. 

"There were four police cars, 15 police officers, a police dog," she said. It turns out somebody had thrown a brick through the window, and not for the first or last time.

Police caught the man who'd tossed the brick, but seeing that he appeared to be suffering from drug addiction, mental health issues or perhaps a combination of both, he was not arrested. 

"That person was in a complete state, they had no idea what they were doing," said Murphy. "We cleaned up the space and we moved on." 

The broken windows — an expensive repair that may be offset by a city grant — are the latest incident in a long, almost daily stream of challenges Murphy and her co-workers face. Their location on Dundas Place puts them front-and-centre to downtown London's problems with people downtown suffering from homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges. 

At Grace, they've had their doors kicked in, employees' electronics stolen, patio furniture damaged and an alley space at the back of the restaurant used as a place where people use drugs, dump trash and relieve themselves. 

Murphy addressed the issues Grace and other downtown businesses are facing in a post on Instagram. Instead of lashing out, she's calling on for everyone with a stake in downtown to come together to reach positive solutions. 

"We believe in the core of our city," she wrote. "We believe love is the answer. We must reclaim this space for love, for decency, for community. We need to flood it with positivity and joy and good. It's time to come together, time to organize and create a movement."

Murphy admits that movement is far from being fully formed, but it already has a name and hashtag: #lovelondonproject.

So what is it? 

"It's a means to create community around this issue," said Murphy. "We want to reach out to all areas of our community ... business associations the city itself ... to create conversations between groups to address these issues." 

The concept includes three pillars: education about downtown London's problems, steps to address them and a marketing and fundraising campaign to help bring positive change. 

"Much like the 'I Love New York' campaign, it's about being proud to represent London and about wanting to have a wonderful city to call home," said Murphy. 

It may sound somewhat vague but Murphy says if people motivated to improve downtown London come together and pool their efforts, good things will happen.

It's been a tough year for anyone in the restaurant business. With Ontario restaurants closed to inside dining due to COVID-19 restrictions, Grace is selling boutique grocery items, many of them locally produced, to keep some cash flowing.

The owners of Grace are currently renovating a retail space next door — a storefront that briefly operated as a cannabis shop — and plan to operate it as a cafe by day, wine bar by night. 

Opening a second business during a pandemic? That's why Murphy wears a T-shirt that says "Nevertheless, she persisted."

Murphy said the positive energy comes in part from the support others have shown her since her post about the smashed windows.

"We got so much positive response on social media, I just feel that people really want to make a difference," she said.

For now she's asking everyone to stay tuned for more details about the #lovelondonproject and is asking everyone in London to do what they can to support downtown merchants during this difficult time.

This is the post that appeared on Grace's Instagram page: