The East Bay Community Foundation recently awarded about $2.2 million to 170 small businesses in Oakland.

Luca Yacon, the owner of the Radically Fit gym, is one of the recipients of the grant.

"We noticed in the Oakland community a real need for a body positive, fat positive place for folks to come and work out, specifically for queer and trans, Black and Brown community," Yacon told CBS News Bay Area.

He has always been passionate about fitness and body positivity, which is why he decided to open his gym in 2018.

"We're really trying to disrupt the fitness industry. A lot of the fitness industry is rooted in shaming people about their bodies. And instead, we want to give people the opposite experience and be able to find joy when they're moving their bodies with each other and heal their relationship they have with themselves," he said.

His gym's logo is "Fit is not a Body Type." Yacon added that about 90 members are a part of his gym with fitness classes throughout the week and weekend.

"We also have a boxing corner over there, we have more racks over there, and then we have some free weights some kettle bells," Yacon said, showing the first floor of his gym.

He said he wanted to apply for the grant to keep his doors open and find opportunities to expand his business.

"We really are dedicated to being rooted in Oakland," Yacon said.

He received a $25,000 grant from the East Bay Community Foundation, and says he's grateful for the organization's support for Oakland businesses.

"We know through our work with small businesses and entrepreneurs that small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic and are still recovering from the economic impacts," Sabrina Wu, the senior program manager of East Bay Community Foundation, told CBS News Bay Area.

The organization aims to help improve social and economic opportunities for the East Bay, specifically Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

About six months ago, the foundation decided to launch a $2.2 million investment into the 170 small businesses specifically in Oakland.

Wu said this is the first time the foundation was able to fund small businesses at scale.

"We really prioritized the funding towards business owners who face the largest barriers to accessing traditional capital. And oftentimes, that is business owners of color, and also women, and nonbinary business owners.  And these folks tend to not have the same access to capital," Wu said.

"Looking at neighborhoods in Oakland that have been underserved and have faced historic disinvestment and other systemic challenges. And those were often located in the downtown area, in east and west Oakland," she added.

The grants ranged anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 and Wu said that they have received about 500 applications. She added that 96% of business owners that have received the grant identified as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. More than half of the business owners identified as women, transgender, non-binary, gender variant or non-conforming.

Wu said they wanted to make sure they prioritize small businesses that have a strong mission in promoting culture and economic activity in Oakland.

"These businesses are here to stay. They're committed, and as East Bay Community Foundation, we're committed to supporting them to continue to be the core of the foundation of our local economy here," she said.

For Yacon, who has lived in Oakland for nearly 15 years, said his work is far from over.

"Oakland is home," he said. "Being able, for people to come in the gym, and see people that look like them and see how they're moving their body is really important," he added.

The East Bay Community Foundation said they are currently raising funding for the next phase of grant applications. Officials said they are hoping to expand application eligibility to all across the East Bay and not just in Oakland.