Living out their CREED: Birmingham co-working space elevates entrepreneurs while honoring civil rights leaders
Danielle Hines, owner and founder of , a co-working space in Birmingham, wears many hats.
She's a licensed attorney in the state of Alabama, works full-time for a public utility company and is a captain in the Alabama Air National Guard.
For nearly three years, she's used her experience in the fields to create a space that aims to elevate entrepreneurs.
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"We are literally something that someone has prayed for," Hines said. "So we have a huge responsibility to be sure that we operate in the spirit of excellence."
Hines says CREED63 was built on three promises.
First, the building would always be named after Arthur Shores, who, according to the Alabama Lawyers Association, made history as the state's first Black attorney to represent his own clients in court.
The second promise: "That Black lawyers would have an affordable place to practice law, if they wanted to go out and hang their own shingle, this would be an easy way to do that for them," Hines said. "And then thirdly, I would activate in some way and bring some type of life and vitality to the civil rights district."
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Hines said the first two were easy, but in order to accomplish the third with CREED63, she needed the help of experts.
Hines teamed up with , a nonprofit organization that supports Black business owners.
Together, they held focus groups to identify what entrepreneurs needed most.
CREED63 now offers a number of resources, including a podcast studio, private offices, virtual offices, meeting space and other programming.
This workspace gives members the tools to change the course of their lives and the world around them.
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Among these members is Stacey Lewis, executive director of , a nonprofit organization that teaches area adults how to read, write and speak English.
"If you look at the recidivism rate in the city of Birmingham, if you look at the level of crime and poor wages or low wages, and then if you look at some of our disadvantaged communities, what you discover is that at the very core, at the essence of it is there is a low level of literacy, there is a low level of what we call illiteracy, and then there are people that are considered functional literacy, meaning that they know just enough to get by, but not enough to improve or to break the back of poverty or to become more productive in the neighborhoods where they reside," Lewis said.
He's on a mission to change this through the power of education.
Lewis describes how CREED63 is helping him accomplish these goals.
"We're around, constantly around, new startups, entrepreneurs and people that are seeking to advance their business," Lewis said. "And so we all come in with the same attitude and mindset of, 'OK, I need to get this done, can you help me get this done?' and there's never been a no."
Kristopher Hicks, head chef, owner and operator of and CREED63 member, said he agrees.
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"I'll scream it from the highest mountain, that any entrepreneur that I've ever come across, I always tell about CREED because, between the staff and all of the information they give you, along with the community, you can't beat it," Hicks said.
Hicks said this space has guided him in the right direction and grown his business exponentially.
CREED63 opening the door to the future while also honoring those who paved the way.
Hines said when creating the space, she wanted to have an intentional conversation about civil rights and human rights.
"So CREED, I actually pulled it from Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech," Hines said. "And of course, we know that was not the first time he gave that speech, but that's when it was really popularized, and so he mentioned living out the true meaning of our creed, and when I read that, I said, that's it."
Now, almost three years later, they continue pushing others to live out the meaning of their CREED.