The Safe Place for Our Tribe, also known as The S.P.O.T., is a non-profit created to provide a space where people could feel welcome, celebrated, and comfortable.
The S.P.O.T. was founded in December 2021 by four Brenau University alumni that had experienced discrimination and adversity. They aim to provide a safe space for education and empowerment within the community by cultivating conversations, experiences, and service.
“We just saw a lot of disparities for a lot of the communities that we intensified in,” Charlene Hendricks, president of The S.P.O.T. said.
Hendricks is currently also working on her doctorate in Human Services while working as the Facilities Coordinator for Emory University's Goizueta Business School.
The team is currently working on their largest event of the year, ‘Own Your Crown,’ an event that was started when the four were still at Brenau. It will take place on October 1, at Westside Park in Atlanta.
“We’re all very much excited. We are scaling up our event and I think the turnout is going to be our biggest turnout we’ve seen in any of our events,” Marissa Brown, Treasurer of The S.P.O.T. said.
Brown said that the purpose of the event is to celebrate and empower black women while also allowing vendors and small businesses in the community an opportunity to get their names out at no cost.
Brown works as a full-time area manager at Amazon.
Azayla Rodriguez, vice president of The S.P.O.T said what keeps them motivated is the ability to create safe spaces for people that look like them. All their funding comes from sponsorship and donations.
“People will come to our event and they tell me ‘I've never been in a space like this where I’ve never felt authentically me’- those are the things that keep me motivated,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is currently working as a freelance public relations agent whilst getting her master’s degree.
Their fourth board member Alexus Cooper is a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy.
Since the founding of the organization, the team has grown. According to Brown, they are not just working as the four of them.
“Seeing how many people are impacted by the things that you do and the work that you do makes you realize that this is bigger than us. This is something that we need to continue to produce to the world,” Hendricks said.
Hendricks said that the events they create are all about the people. If there is a gap that needs to be filled and if they can help people in whatever way they need to be helped then they will help them.
For more information on The S.P.O.T and their events, you can look at their website thespotinc.org.
