A community safe haven for the black, brown, and “everybody down.”
It’s funny (and serendipitous) , how some business concepts come to fruition. Take the case of Hy-Deia Jaye Walker and Dan White. Unbeknown to one another, both Hy-Deia and Dan were each considering opening up a holistic café in the former Sweet_ness 7 location at 220 Grant Street. When Hy-Deia called building owner Prish Moran, to tell her about her idea for the café, Prish replied that she had already talked to her business partner, Dan. When Hy-Deia told Prish that she didn’t have a business partner, Prish was surprised, and suggested that the two meet. After an hour-long FaceTime video, Hy-Deia and Dan decided to partner up on the café. And that, my friends, is the future of cooperation in Buffalo.
“We have so many synergies,” said Hy-Deia. “I’m an astrologist – so I pulled our birth charts. It turns out that the universe wants us to do this. We’re combining our resources and our personalities.”
Together, Hy-Deia and Dan are opening The Healing Grounds – a worker cooperative that bucks the hierarchical nature of the played out corporate workplace.
“It gives us control over our future,” said Hy-Deia. “This is my second attempt to start a cooperative. The first time around, the personalities were not meshing. I just left that cooperative opportunity – our group went through the 13-week Cooperation Buffalo program. There were 13 cooperative groups within that class. It was a great opportunity. But my group didn’t have the people that I needed to move forward. In the end, Dan was the people [laughing].”
Together with Hy-Deia and Dan, the new cooperative group consists of 5 people total. Currently, they are in the process of opening The Healing Grounds Café at the corner of Grant and Lafayette. But that’s not it. They are also opening The Healing Grounds Sanctuary at 218 Grant Street, a couple of doors down. The Sanctuary space is where the group will host gallery openings, pop-ups, workshops, holistic, wellness, and spiritual events, yoga sessions, and energy and healing circles.
“The concept of the Sanctuary, first got its start when my friends and I would host Buffalo community showcase pop-ups at LaSalle Park, featuring vending opportunities for (budding) entrepreneurs and live music,” Dan told me. “It sparked the idea to make an actual entity. I’m an artist, and Hy-Deia does reiki and energy healing. Others in the group teach yoga. The grand opening is going to be on Friday, July 15 – it’s going to be an open mic. This is all about community building… connecting with people, to see how we can sustain ourselves. We have all of the skillsets.”
As for The Healing Grounds Café (opening in October), it will be a holistic café mostly based on plant foods. Once again, everyone is bringing something to the (communal) table. Dan has a cacao business on the side, which he is excited to incorporate into the offerings. And there will will be fair trade coffee and herbal teas. All of the food and drinks will be based on the holistic lifestyle, which transcends all aspects of the businesses. The goal is to heal the community through food, while empowering people to lead the best lives that they can.”
“We live in this neighborhood, and we are rooted in the community,” Hy-Deia and Dan shared. “We hope to be a part of transforming this entire block into a vibrant hub for holistic living. We want to bring new options to Buffalo, with intention, cultivation, and revitalization. Corporate America is killing the spirit, and can make people (like Hy-Deia) physically sick. This is what is triggering this new journey. We have worked very hard to get here… we’re really proud of us.”
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Lead image: Photo/s taken on patio of Five Points Bakery
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July 11, 2022 at 09:52PM
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The Healing Grounds Café and Sanctuary - Buffalo Rising
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