NAACP x BeyGOOD: Meet the Recipients

In 2019, Tiffany M. Turner made the switch from being a special education teacher with a solid foundation in all grades to opening her own daycare and preschool in Houston, Texas. Turner created Aim High Prep because she believed there was a real need for strong, early education.

The mission of Aim High Prep is to empower parents in a partnership to develop their children. Turner worried about the emotional impact the news — the civil unrests in cities and murders of unarmed African Americans — were having on Black children on top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turner did not get one of the small business loans the government provided to help struggling businesses during the height of the pandemic. Turner said she really needed the funding. At one time, Aim High Prep had no power.

After hearing a radio commercial about singer Beyonce providing grants for Black-owned small businesses, Turner decided to apply never expecting to win.

"I never win anything," Turner said.

But her luck changed. Turner received the news that she was a recipient of the NAACP-BeyGOOD Small Business Grant. The BeyGOOD grant was created by singer Beyonce's foundation, BeyGOOD, in partnership with the NAACP to support struggling Black small business owners impacted by the 2020 pandemic and nationwide unrest.

Turner said the Beygood grant couldn't have come at a more perfect time. The funding helped with all the additional costs she incurred due to COVID-19, plus the ongoing expenses of running a small business. Turner said she is grateful for the BeyGOOD grant.

"No one could have predicted the sanitation efforts we would have to keep up with," Turner said. "The additional funding helped with that and we'll be updating our technology with broadband service and purchasing Chromebooks."

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Almighty® is a Los Angeles-based skate shop owned by Courtney Elijah.

A clothing designer by trade, Elijah opened the skate shop after noticing that there were no shops in his neighborhood that sold skateboards and related products

"I wanted to provide something for the local community, so [people] didn't have to go to the other side of the city to get their skateboards," said Elijah. "We also have a culture where we draw a lot of artists, photographers, a lot of different people who are into skating, streetwear, and art, in general."

Elijah also made sure that the community was always at the core of the Almighty® business.

 "Everybody that worked for us are kids that are local to downtown LA, whether it's East LA, actually living in downtown or Mid-City, South Central area. I try to give an opportunity for the locals to have somewhere to go, get away from their surroundings, learn about fashion, learn about retail, and also give them an opportunity to learn about money," said Elijah.

Unfortunately, the 2020 racial justice protests took a heavy toll on Almighty®.

"The first night of the [Black Lives Matter] protests, my store was probably one of the first hit. They broke our front window and pretty much took the majority of the products that we had in the front of the store," Elijah recalled. "We were left with about 25 percent of what we actually had. That was difficult. We had already been out of business for about two and a half months at that point."

With making building repairs, replacing stolen merchandise and the difficulty of keeping the business going, Elijah said the BeyGOOD grant he received has been very beneficial. The BeyGOOD grant was part of a fund created by Beyonce's foundation, BeyGOOD, and the NAACP to support struggling Black-owned small business owners negatively affected by the 2020 pandemic and social unrest that occurred across the United States.

"This is just going to help me push more of the goals and the vision that we have to keep building for the community and keep making this shop something that people are proud to be a part of and come to shop at," Elijah added.

Stacy Blanco decided to step out on faith and left her corporate job behind to open her own salon six years ago. Blanco, like most Black women, understands the importance of having a sacred place to groom. Blanco started Curl & Co. Studio because she wanted the women of Harlem not to feel that they had to travel outside of their neighborhoods for quality hair services.

Blanco knows first-hand that the beauty business is not always pretty. When she was preparing to open her salon, she encountered contractors who were unprofessional and caused issues with her salon that could have been avoided.

"I wish there were more Black women contractors because dealing with men can be a hassle," she said.

Nonetheless, Blanco perseveres and continues to be an important vessel in her community.

When the pandemic hit and the social justice protests began, Blanco had to close her shop for a while. With no clients coming in, she had to cut her budget to maintain her salon. She still supports her community, and the effort to shed light on the injustices Black people face in this country. She stands with her community.

Blanco wants her clients to feel safe and the BeyGOOD grant will help her immensely.

"The first thing I am going to get is an air conditioner, so my clients can be comfortable while they get their hair done," Blanco said. She plans to pay it forward just as BeyGOOD has done for her and others.

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Fresh out of barber school 20 years ago, James Bynum joined a group of barbers who opened a shop in a multipurpose retail establishment. Two years later, he became the sole owner, determined to succeed despite the odds that faced his business from the start.

He borrowed money from his older brother to get started, and his wife gave him extra savings she had outside their joint account. An early potential partner bailed out, forcing Bynum to secure all the funding he needed to launch his business.

Customer volume was also low at the start.

"Nobody knew me," Bynum said. "I was located on a busy avenue and I almost gave up."

His mother told him that he couldn't make anyone come to the shop, but he should pray and ask God to send him the clients. Bynum joked that not long after that prayer, he had so many customers that he had to ask God to start slowing down the flow of traffic.

Cutz Too became part of the fabric of the neighborhood, not only for its hair cutting services, but also for its reputation as a place that gave back to the community. For example, Bynum allowed those impacted by homelessness to come into his shop during frigid Minneapolis winters, and offered free haircuts to those who couldn't afford one. When those customers insisted on paying something, Bynum simply asked them to place a dollar on the wall.

When looters entered Bynum's shop, they stripped the wall bare. While Cutz Too wasn't burned down, looters broke windows, vandalized barber stations and stole supplies, a television and the money on the wall. Bynum said the BeyGOOD grant will help him replace some of the stolen materials and pay off debt that has accumulated since the shop closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The whole area is quiet, and we need that energy back," Bynum said. "People see me outside the shop and ask, 'When are you coming back?' It means a lot to me to have this chance to get back to serving the community."

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Whitney Shanise Byrd, along with her partners Charles Byrd and Henry Darko, started their business, Darko and Byrd Tennis Academy, five years ago to teach high performance tennis to all children regardless of their race.

As one of only a few Black female tennis coaches, Byrd was tired of being told "no." After spending a lifetime of being pushed to the side, she decided to form her own academy in conjunction with her partners. It doesn't hurt that Byrd not only loves the game of tennis, but even more so, she relishes having the opportunity to make the men of the game look bad.

Darko and Byrd Tennis Academy gives kids who are already great or just love the game of tennis an opportunity to go to college, or even play professionally like Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka or Serena Williams. Not every young person will play professionally or receive a scholarship, but that's OK said Byrd. Some players use the academy as an outlet to network and expand their social circle. The staff also encourages academy participants to consider a career in coaching.

What's most important is that "we're promoting Black excellence to little Black children, showing them that we can dominate in a sport that may seem unfamiliar in the Black community," Byrd said.

And Byrd credits much of their success to their all-Black staff. She said the BeyGOOD grant will fill a number of needs.

 "It is truly a godsend," Byrd said. "The pandemic really damaged us financially."

The funds will be used to purchase much-needed inventory and tennis clothing. The grant money will also help pay rent for the very expensive court space they need, in addition to the cost of travel for students to play in tournaments.

 "We are honestly so grateful, thank you," Byrd said.

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The Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center (DSPAC) in New York, is normally a bustling artistic hub. However, the center, located on Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn, was uncharacteristically quiet during the height of the pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak forced it to move its array of classes online, cut operating hours, and to founder and executive director Dwana Smallwood's dismay, lay off one staff member.

Smallwood is a star in the world of modern dance. She is an alum of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and an architect of the dance program at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Vogue magazine once declared her "one of the greatest modern dancers." 

In the five years that the Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center had been operating before the pandemic, it had served 20,000 people directly and indirectly through its classes, and annual M.A.M.A. Festival: More Arts, More Alive! The festival featured free performances, classes, family activities, and a voter-registration drive.

"We believe that when you bring more arts to a community, it comes more alive," Smallwood said in a telephone interview.

But last year, Smallwood had to slash the cost of courses by about 75 percent to keep them accessible to the local Bedford-Stuyvesant community of Brooklyn, which has a significant lower-income demographic.

However, Smallwood said that as a recipient of a grant from the NAACP-BeyGOOD Small Business Impact Fund, she was able to continue to pay her instructors and the center's rent. The Small Business Impact Fund is a grant program that was created by singer Beyonce's foundation, BeyGOOD, in partnership with the NAACP to support struggling Black-owned small business owners negatively affected by the pandemic and unrest across the United States.

"This provided us with more time and [kept] us afloat while we are unable to open our doors," said Smallwood. "I believe in the collective responsibility of us all and I applaud the NAACP and BeyGOOD for taking the initiative and making this happen."

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Hank's Mini Market is a family-owned business based in Los Angeles. For 20 years, the small mart, located in the Hyde Park area of South L.A., has offered customers a combination of art and food in an effort to inspire and uplift the community. Owner Kelli Jennifer Jackson inherited the business from her father, Hank, who told his daughter, 'Why work for someone when you can work for yourself?'"

"My Dad has also lived in the same community. So, he wanted to invest in the community as a business leader," said Jackson.

She noted that Hank's Mini Market has always been a refuge for everyone that enters its doors — from community gatherings for collective healing and art, to hosting events, to networking with other local businesses and organizations. However, Hank's journey during the coronavirus pandemic has not been easy.

During COVID-19, Hank's had to close its doors and lost significant revenue. There were already challenges before the pandemic, and the coronavirus exacerbated the situation. For Hank's, the BeyGOOD grant came just in time and was an unexpected blessing, said Jackson. The BeyGOOD grant is part of a fund created by singer Beyonce's foundation, BeyGOOD, in partnership with the NAACP to support struggling Black-owned small business owners negatively affected by the pandemic and unrest across the United States.

According to Jackson, the BeyGOOD fund not only gave their family the resources to reopen the store, but also provided an opportunity for them to continue to serve the community.

"I think one of the most challenging things for me has always been funding," said Jackson. "It's been difficult to have the funds to keep up with the changing times and I had a vision to be more relevant to the kind of issues that are going on in the community and how we could be more reflective of the next generation in that sense."

Thomas Lewis, also known as Master Sabu, has been teaching martial arts for 45 years in the Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn. His journey began when a young child he knew died from street violence. From then on, his goal was to give people an alternative and healthier way to express their emotions. That's why he created the Humble School of Martial Arts (HSMA).

Lewis collaborates with local schools and churches to provide wellness classes to the most vulnerable in his community. He teaches people of all ages and routinely goes to nursing homes to do wellness checks. Most recently, he created a program called "Futuristic Thinking," a mentorship program for at-risk teens.

"As a result of the classes being free or low cost, it was difficult to find funding every month to keep the operation up and running," Lewis said. "The children I found that needed this positive intervention were some of the same students unable to pay for classes. I compensated financially, by hosting fundraising and community activities within the local community. Although these efforts did not generate a lot of money, it did help (keep) the Humble School of Martial Arts from closing."

But the pandemic and civil unrest brought hardship to HSSM. Lewis found it difficult to keep up with operating costs. He says he will use his BeyGOOD grant to fulfill the mission of HSMA and to continue being a sustainable pillar in the Bed-Stuy community.

"This grant also gives us the opportunity to be able to reach our youth and to help nurture positive relationships with law enforcement," he said. "We want our community to have a better understanding of their rights, while helping them to further distinguish and appreciate their self-value and respect for their lives."

Alvin Lee Smalls was a professional baker at New York Hospital for 27 years before he started his own business in 1988. He recognized that the food industry was shifting toward more processed foods and wanted to continue giving his community whole and fresh ingredients. Smalls, who was raised in the South, used his pension and savings to open Lee Lee's Bakery in Harlem.

 "Baking is an art that is perfected over time," Smalls said. "It's an up-early-work-long-hours type of job. You have to love coming in and mixing a few key ingredients that make little miracles that delight."

But even though Smalls is an established baker, he faced obstacles with starting his business.

"Systemic racism in banking meant I wasn't able to secure a business loan, so aside from my savings and pension I had to rely on street loans," said Smalls.

Nevertheless, Smalls opened his bakery and Lee Lee's became a community staple. People lined up for his Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Sand Tarts and Babka. Smalls even supported young entrepreneurs by allowing his store to be an incubator space for start-ups.

"We served our community by supporting homegoings, graduations, and birthday celebrations, even when customers' funds were non-existent," Smalls said. "We provided our baked goods to community organizations whose main goal is to support students, the elderly and other entrepreneurs.

The pandemic hurt the bakery financially and Lee Lee's received some property damage during the protests. Smalls said the BeyGOOD grant will help him train another baker. He also wants to open a food manufacturing facility to help preserve whole ingredients in baked goods.

But most of all Smalls said he hopes to leave a legacy. He wants to preserve his baked goods as Black cultural recipes long after he is gone.

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Downtown Atlanta businesses bear scars from the civil unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and are managing economic fallout from COVID-19. Leslie Andrews Photography is one of those businesses.

Located in a cul-de-sac off of downtown Atlanta's Peachtree Street, Leslie Andrews Photography used to be open pretty much anytime it was needed. But the pandemic forced Andrews to cut back the business hours dramatically. She also closed early so that a cleaning company could come in and wipe down every surface. The costs were adding up.

So when she learned she was the recipient of an NAACP-BeyGOOD Small Business Impact Fund grant, she knew her photography studio would be able to stay open.

The BeyGOOD grant will offset some of the costs of cleaning and allow the studio to keep operating. Andrews runs the studio as a co-op, so a shutdown wouldn't have just affected her.

"It would affect 15 other photographers who cannot afford their own studios who want to continue their businesses as well," Andrews said.

Andrews got into photography after a former boss noticed her talent and encouraged her to pursue it as a career. She attended the Art Institute in Atlanta and shortly after graduation she launched her photography career.

Leslie Andrews Photography has supported non-profit organizations like Orchestra Noir and Musicians of Color. Andrews also hosted a market event at the studio called Black Luxe to help vendors raise money for local charities.

The BeyGOOD grant is a validation of all of her hard work, Andrews said.

"I finally felt like the challenges I experienced as a photographer hadn't been in vain," Andrews said in a phone interview. "Somebody picked me out of thousands of other people. They said we love your work and love what you're doing for the community.''"

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Khristy Hill and her partner, Ivan Rivera, started their children's clothing business, Little Giants, Giant Shorties, six years ago while Hill was six months pregnant with their son, Knowledge. The couple discovered that they could be entrepreneurs while connecting with other parents through their hip-hop-inspired clothing and accessories.

Hill juggled being a mom to an infant and running a business. She packaged orders while she nursed and looked forward to a time when she could focus on the business full time. But a trip to New York to set up a monthlong pop-up shop turned into a four-year stay in a storefront for the duo. Then, with the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over police brutality, forced Little Giants was forced to close its physical store.

"We were able to cover our doors and windows just in time but never recovered financially," she said. But neither the protests nor the pandemic has stopped Little Giants from supporting its community.

"We've been serving since day one," Hill said. "Whether it is giving free clothes to kids in need in Atlanta or giving away books to teachers, children, and even a few libraries in Brooklyn."

Hill said they were proud to be a part of the Summer Youth Employment Program in New York. It was an opportunity for the company to give high school students a chance to see what it is like to be entrepreneurs.

"We plan to continuously serve people the best way we can," said Hill. "Our community is the only reason we're still here!"

Hill said the BeyGOOD grant will help her replenish inventory and pay outstanding bills. The BeyGOOD grant is a fund created by singer Beyonce's foundation in partnership with the NAACP to support struggling Black-owned small business owners impacted by the pandemic and nationwide unrest.

Hill expressed extreme gratitude to the NAACP and Beyonce for helping Black entrepreneurs who have been overlooked otherwise.

"We're humbled by this," Hill said.

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In the Victory neighborhood of Minneapolis, Kester Wubben saw an opportunity. Not only did he envision providing a one-stop-shop for residents' printing, packaging and mailing needs, but he also wanted to provide opportunities for his family through entrepreneurship.

The road wasn't easy. Wubben had to pay down debt to secure funding and withdraw money from his 401(k) retirement account to open a Mailbox Solutions Plus location in the neighborhood where he lived. His store quickly became the go-to print shop for the community. Wubben printed flyers for nearby businesses and neighborhood events and Mailbox Solutions Plus also offered school and office supplies for students and teachers at the elementary school and high school a block away.

"You could come to us and get great customer service," Wubben said. "We were easier to access and friendlier than the post office."

Wubben was also proud to provide employment for his 18-year-old son, Kester Jr., in the store. When schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kester Jr. often ran the shop on his own for four hours at a time.

June 8 would have marked the one-year anniversary of Wubben's Mailbox Solutions Plus store's opening. But on June 1, arsonists set fire to the store during the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by police. The store received significant fire and water damage and was deemed a total loss. When Wubben visited the building later in the summer, a tree had started growing through a hole in the roof.

"There was nothing to salvage," Wubben said. "It just hurts. You no longer have your business, there's no money coming in and you still owe money to pay off your original loan."

Wubben is thankful to have received a BeyGOOD grant, a fund created by singer Beyonce's BeyGOOD foundation in partnership with the NAACP to support Black-owned small business owners impacted by the pandemic and civil unrest in 2020. Wubben said he will use the grant to pay off some outstanding debt and start a new business. He wants to offer the same services in a larger facility that would include a coffee shop and office space that neighborhood residents could rent for meetings. 

"My son and I would like to thank Beyonce for doing this for Black businesses," Wubben said. "We're really appreciative that she's giving back to the community."

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Christopher Webley wanted to forge a new path in real estate development, one that would allow greater participation among people of color. In 2015, he founded NEW RULES Benefit Corporation, a communal real estate marketplace in Minneapolis.

"The real estate space is extractive, and I believe participation has to be intentional," Webley said. "We talk about gentrification as something recent, but it's been happening for hundreds of years. I didn't see anybody leading the charge to maintain and occupy space in Black and brown communities, and I wanted to model a different set of behaviors in the real estate place."

Part shared work and living space, part artist collective and event space – NEWRULESÒ grew into an innovative mixed-use property where the community could gather. It will celebrate its fourth anniversary Oct. 15.

Blazing a trail in the real estate world has meant that Webley is often the only Black developer in the room at meetings, not to mention the youngest. Securing financing and gaining permits and liquor licenses also were costly endeavors in terms of time and money.

When protests began to take place across Minneapolis, Webley initially wasn't worried about his Northside business. It was known as a local gathering place, one where he worked to create a vibe of "intentional openness" with music blaring and wide, open garage doors inviting people in. He had provided food, clothing and temporary shelter for protestors, and despite the pleas from a local council member, he was resistant to boarding up his business.

Then the bricks came through the windows and doors. Local residents began patrolling to keep looters out. A second building under construction suffered water and smoke damage.

Webley plans to use the BeyGOOD grant money to sustain day-to-day operations, make repairs and pay for continued construction. He hasn't generated income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential visitors have been hesitant to return to indoor event spaces and shared workspaces since his reopening.

"I have a great appreciation for Black leaders stepping up to help Black businesses as Beyonce did," Webley said. "This first group of businesses selected could be part of a landmark consortium working with intention to generate more funding for Black businesses."

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They say that the calmest part of a storm is at the center. As nationwide protests rallied against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Sammy's Avenue Eatery in that city was a gathering place for communication and healing instead of destruction.

"We were not terrorized," said Samuel McDowell, owner of Sammy's Avenue Eatery.

Activists and demonstrators made sure of that. Leslie Redmond, who at the time was branch president of the NAACP Minneapolis, organized a watch team to guard the entire block of the main location, McDowell said. Redmond contacted individuals who were licensed to carry firearms, organized orientation and set up watch shifts, he said.

Two locals volunteered to stand watch, and tech-savvy youngsters spread a firm edict via text. 

"Young people were out here with their phones telling each other 'DO NOT TOUCH SAMMY'S!'" McDowell said. "We have all glass windows and we were not touched at all."

Not violently, anyway. Locals and activists adopted the restaurant as a haven away from the stresses of a city in turmoil. McDowell says about 300 people gathered at the West Broadway Avenue location every evening for weeks during the height of the social unrest in 2020. Some contributed food to help feed the crowd. McDowell bought a cooler and stocked it with grocery staples. He gave away so much food that he had to restock the restaurant's refrigerator every morning, he said.   

McDowell said he would use the proceeds from the NAACP-BeyGOOD Small Business Impact Fund to refurbish the physical spaces after so much wear and tear from the daily crowds and to recoup the cost of handing out food.  

"To me, this feels like a touchdown grant," McDowell said.

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Forty years ago, it was Mr. Afro's. The passage of time and a shift in hair trends led to a name change for the business that had been in Ray James' family for four decades.

Now known as the Fade Factory, the North Minneapolis barbershop was purchased by James' aunt and later passed down to a cousin. James spent a significant amount of time in the shop as a child and knew he wanted to continue its legacy.

"My aunt took a loss on the sale to keep it in the family," said James, who has owned the shop for 10 years and remodeled it after he took over. "The shop was the heart of the neighborhood, and I wanted to keep it going."

The Fade Factory was part of a three-suite building that included a barbecue restaurant, a hair-braiding shop, and a clothing store. But the building was destroyed by fire during the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by police.

James said firetrucks didn't get to his shop for 2 ½ hours. When he called for service, he was told to "get in line" because firefighters had four other buildings ahead of his, with possible casualties. Seeing his business burn, knowing help was not coming, "broke my heart," James said.

"To be honest, I felt betrayed," James said about the destruction of his shop. "So many barbers around here have gotten their first jobs in my shop. We've been a part of the community for a long time."

The loss of his business only compounded a difficult year for James and his family. Closing the shop during the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant loss of income, and his son also contracted the virus. James also lost a loved one to the virus.

James will use the BeyGOOD grant he received to rebuild his business. The BeyGOOD grant was created by singer Beyonce's foundation, BeyGOOD, in partnership with the NAACP to support struggling Black small business owners impacted by the pandemic and recent nationwide unrest.

"This means a lot," James said. "To be in need and have people come together to help – and especially Beyonce. People don't even believe me when I mention this grant is from her. I deeply appreciate it."

In 2018, Deidre Mathis, made history as the first Black woman in the United States to own a hostel. With a passion for people and travel, Mathis combined two of her great loves when she opened the WanderStay Hostel in Houston, Texas.

But it wasn't easy.

"Financing was probably the toughest thing I've had to endure especially as an entrepreneur with a brick and mortar store," said Mathis.

But despite the financing obstacles and being in a 99.9 percent white, male dominated industry, Mathis built a strong network of supporters in Houston's Third Ward community, where she grew up.

"We are the gateway to exposing people to our community who in turn patronize our local restaurants and bars that feed a lot of dollars into the community," said Mathis.

The pandemic happened right when WanderStay was starting to grow and Mathis lost 45-60 percent of her business. But she was one of the few to secure a six-figure SBA loan as a startup company.

Mathis was also the recipient of the NAACP-BeyGOOD Small Business Grant. The grant was created by singer Beyonce's foundation, BeyGOOD, in partnership with the NAACP to support struggling Black small business owners impacted by the 2020 pandemic and recent nationwide unrest.

The BeyGOOD grant allowed Mathis to pay her employees and to stay open during the pandemic. The funding also allowed her to open a second location. And now that the world is opening and folks have gotten the vaccine, Mathis hopes business will pick up since people have started traveling again.

"We accommodate people from all over the world that have opportunities to meet other people and forge relationships to do other things outside of WanderStay doors," said Mathis. "They travel together, volunteer together or whatever else it is, it all starts with us at WanderStay."

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Janice Wilbourn started her day on March 31 like so many others: She opened the doors of Wilbourn Sisters Designs on Atlanta's Peachtree Street, a fashion boutique that she operates with her business partner and sister Carolyn.

But that day was different from others. Peaceful demonstrations protesting the police killing of George Floyd began had erupted into destructive upheaval in downtown Atlanta. The Wilbourn store, which contained photos, original art and other memorabilia from the family's 40-year career in fashion design, had sustained heavy damage. All of the front windows had been broken.

After several decades of creating couture designer fashions and running two mall-based boutique stores, the sisters had amassed enough memorabilia to fill a museum. The walls of the boutique are covered with photos of high-profile African Americans who have worn their designs, such as Susan Taylor, former editor of Essence magazine, and life coach and television personality Iyanla Vanzant. 

While Janice focuses on the space in Atlanta, Carolyn oversees the purchase of fabrics and clothing manufacturing from Los Angeles. There, Carolyn also organizes food distribution to help address the homeless crisis.

The Wilbourn sisters were recipients of the NAACP-BeyGOOD Small Business grant, awarded to minority business owners who were impacted by the 2020 pandemic and civil unrest. They plan to use the grant to replace the store's windows, doors, flooring, carpeting and for equipment upgrades, said Janice Wilbourn. 

The entrepreneurs also plan to create a teaching hub for young and upcoming fashion designers and a community event space.

"It is a community grant," said Carolyn Wilbourn. "This means they love us, support us and they have our back. It was a blessing and it was a good feeling to get it from the NAACP."

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