When Sherman Phoenix opened in 2018 as an entrepreneurial hub for Black-owned businesses, one goal was to reclaim the Sherman Park neighborhood after the 2016 civil unrest. Built on the former site of a bank that had been burned down, Sherman Phoenix now hosts over 27 businesses, from food vendors and beauty services to retail collectives and mental health services.

“There needs to be a place of healing somewhere in the neighborhood,” says Dr. Stacia Thompson, executive director of Sherman Phoenix Foundation. The foundation formed in 2020 to lead value-added programming that brings cultural and economic vibrancy to the hub. It focuses on four areas: entrepreneurship and small-business success; strategic corporate investment and training; economic equity and empowerment; and cultural and economic vibrancy.

Recent Phoenix events include a community baby shower for mothers-to-be, which sent each of them home with gift bags stuffed with Pampers diapers and wipes; a financial-literacy class for high schoolers; and a group therapy session for people of color and their families. Thompson plans to host more community impact programs in the year to come, as Sherman Phoenix continues to grow.