DETROIT – It may look like any old vacant building in Detroit, but for a group dedicated to helping others, all they see is an opportunity.
“The Ground Up Project is a revitalization effort for the city of Detroit. We’re going to be empowering entrepreneurs to own and operate their own businesses,” said Dexter Sullivan, who is with the Ground Up Project.
Sullivan said all of that will happen inside a building on Linwood Street, right at the center of the LaSalle Gardens and the Historic Dexter Linwood neighborhood.
“This building here will be our ground zero, this will be the Black Legacy Advancement Center, in this building we will own and operate a barbershop as well as a takeaway restaurant and catering kitchen,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the participants will also live upstairs, where they will complete a two-year program.
“Entrepreneurship is key in the Black community. When we invest in those that serve us, we make opportunities that are larger than ourselves. We want to make sure that we’re setting up entrepreneurs to be successful in their own rights to own and operate their business, so they can leave a legacy for their children,” Sullivan said.
Tiffany Johnson, the program manager with The Ground Up Project, said they’ll learn life skills as well.
“Integrating life skills and also communication skills, coping skills, mental health capacities and so on, just to ensure that every person is fully equipped,” Johnson said.
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