"Unfortunately, our business is one that has been impacted exponentially," Callender says. "Our business has been closed since March and we are unable to open due to the type of phase that the city is in. We're also relocating the site that Sandlot Southwest has been in for the past year because the developers are planning to demolish the building."
Callendar adds that the "silver lining" in this situation is that he and his business partner, Kevin Hallums, have a good relationship with the developer and will soon be moving to a newer space owned by the same developer in the southeast region of Washington, D.C.
Moving forward, Callender says he hopes that Jay-Z's Black business ads will help more entrepreneurs receive the capital they need to stay afloat during this time. "I think in the Black community we always have issues with access to capital, especially when you look at it from a systemic standpoint with real estate and mortgage and loans," he says. "We're always at a disadvantage. So to be able to see a list of Black-owned businesses, where you know most of them have probably created their experiences from the ground up without any support, is big.
MakeIt These people cry for Jeff bezos to give all his money away everyday... it works both ways... nobody that was white and read that newspaper jumped up to go to those black owned business I guarantee it.