GREEN BAY, Wis (NBC 26) -- Black Lives United, the same group that managed to bring together more than 1,000 people for Green Bay's Juneteenth celebration, is now fundraising to get a black-owned family restaurant to be reestablished in Green Bay.
In was in downtown Green Bay just three short years ago when the Homemade Southern Cuisine was established by Sarai Buie of Green Bay.
"People always tell me how they miss this type of food from where they come from because everybody who lives in Green Bay is not from Green Bay."
Buie says trying times related to a lack of quality help and maintaining her lease ultimately lead to the closure of her restaurant after nearly three years of being opened.
"I feel like we could have made it, but we were just not given the opportunity to finish our goal," says Buie.
But on Monday, in an effort lead by members of Black Lives United, Buie could soon have the opportunity to open another restaurant.
"I think the economy becomes stronger when we have a diverse group of business owners," says Robin Tinnon the Executive of We All Rise, an African American resource center in Green Bay.
Tinnon is advocating for the community to raise 25-thousand dollars through a Gofundme.com page so that more black-owned businesses can begin sprouting up in Green Bay. The first goal is to get Buie and her future co-owner the funding needed to get them established.
"You want to be intentional about being interconnected in your community? Then this restaurant will be one of those spaces where you can go and visit other folks and meet and connect with members that are different from you," adds Tinnon
"Having a restaurant I believe helped people know who we are, helped people see that people are different and there are black people that will go out there and try and get something and we need more of that," says Buie
To see the Gofundme page for the BLU sponsored, Black-owned restaurant fundraiser, click here.
