What began as a conversation after a neighborhood meeting became an unexpected partnership between the Grant Street Community and Duke University's Edible Atlas Lab—and just four months later, that collaboration was featured in The New York Times. This is the story behind the headlines, and why our neighbors' decades-long vision for a grocery store in the historic Hayti District remains at the center of it all.

National attention was never the goal. Our hope is that this moment helps amplify what residents have been advocating for all along: healthy food access, equitable investment, and a future shaped by the people who have faithfully called Hayti home for generations.

Some stories take generations to come together. This is the story of how Kendall and Erin Dooley's journey of tracing their family's Great Migration history led them to Durham's historic Hayti District, where they met the Grant Street Ladies and Monument of Faith Church—neighbors whose stories, commitment, and love for place have shaped a shared vision for the future.

When Ash Wednesday rolled around last week my wife asked if I wanted to go to any of the church services in town. You see, after seventeen years in pastoral ministry I’d been spending the last two learning the trade of earthen building. Separated from the rhythms of traditional church life, and more particularly the life of a pastor, I said I’d like to do laundry instead. But that Wednesday moved fast and it was dark and late by the time we left the adobe house we’re building. We opted for enchiladas and a Modelo and dirty clothes. After finishing our meal we chatted with the restaurant owner as the plaza in our small town was being cordoned off after rumors of an active shooter and bomb threat were being addressed. Snow was falling for what felt like the first time all winter. 

BLK South’s 2025 Annual Report reflects a year of transition, learning, and deeper rootedness. As we relocated to Durham and continued our work in the Historic Hayti District, this report offers an honest snapshot of what it looked like to practice place-based community development through presence, partnership, and patience. Inside, we share highlights from our neighborhood work, formation spaces, public engagement, and the relationships that continue to shape our long-term vision for the South.

Lately, I’ve been sitting with the idea that our well-being is deeply tied to the well-being of our neighborhoods—not just in theory, but in our bodies, our mental health, our dreams. If my neighbors aren’t okay, then I’m not okay. That simple truth has been shaping how I think about our work at BLK South.

The neighborhood isn’t just a space where we do things—it’s the ground from which we live. It invites us into a deeper kind of solidarity, one that isn’t only project-based but life-based. It calls us not only to ask, What do we want to build here? but How do we want to live here—together?