A group of people gathered in Meridian to help support and uplift Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in Idaho. The occasion was the grand opening of a new community space by the Idaho Black Community Alliance.
We wanted to know more about the space and the Alliance, so we asked Trish Walker, the CEO and Founder of the Idaho Black Community Alliance, to join Idaho Matters and tell us more.
Read the full transcript below:
GEMMA GAUDETTE: More Idaho Matters from the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette. Last Friday, a group of people gathered in Meridian to help support and uplift Black owned businesses and entrepreneurs in Idaho. The occasion was the grand opening of a new community space from the Idaho Black Community Alliance, and we wanted to know more about the space and the Alliance, so we asked Trish Walker to join us. She is the CEO and founder of the Idaho Black Community Alliance, and for the last three years, she's been shaping the nonprofit into a home for black businesses and culture here in the Treasure Valley. We want to welcome you to the program, Trish.
TRISH WALKER: Thank you. Thank you for having me. So excited.
GAUDETTE: So, Trish, for folks who aren't familiar, what is the Idaho Black Community Alliance?
WALKER: So the Idaho Black Community Alliance is a group of folks that got together, and we decided that we wanted to do more for our Black community in the way of Black business and supporting the Black business owners, supporting our Black professionals that are moving or transitioning to Idaho and supporting our community and our culture. And our goal is to support Black businesses, either to help them to get their start helping them with their next level. And then just connecting them with those resources that can help them with their business, on their business journey, as well as helping folks feel like Idaho is a home for them. And when we're we're only about 1% of the population in Idaho. And so it's really important to make sure that you have that connection and that you have that that that feeling of familiarity and that feeling of belonging in this community.
GAUDETTE: So as you mentioned, Trish, you have a real focus on helping Black owned businesses. Can you talk to us a little bit about how exactly you do that?
WALKER: So we work with our businesses either through a one on one mentorship counseling. We work with them by connecting them to those resources that can better help them. We work with them by offering different classes and trainings or even like networking. We expose them to the rest of the community. We offer different pop ups or, um, mingling, mix and mingle. Um, we're not like we aren't. We operate similar to what a chamber would operate as, but we're not a chamber. And so we have one on one connections with our businesses, and we meet our businesses right where they're at. So wherever you're at on your journey, we just look at where you're at and we see where you want to go, and we help you to get there.
GAUDETTE: And you also work to really educate the larger community about Black culture. Can you talk about this? And really, I think, Trish, you know, the importance of of those of us who are not within the Black community to really understand and maybe have a better appreciation for that culture.
WALKER: Thank you, thank you. So I'm a Black Idahoan number one. Number two, I'm from Idaho and I was born and raised in Idaho. I'm a fourth generation Idahoan. And so for me, it's important for you to be able to have a sense of belonging, a sense of culture, a sense of your community. We don't learn about Black history, um, in school as much as as much as we'd like to. Um, and so it's an opportunity for us to educate each other about our community. Diversity and inclusion is not a bad word, and it's not a bad thing. It's just helping us to engage and to understand a little bit more about each other. And from our experiences where we come from and how we've lived in life and some of the challenges that we face. And so those are the those are the opportunities that we take to connect the rest of Idaho to our Black community in Idaho.
GAUDETTE: For those of you who are just joining us, let me reintroduce our guest. We're talking with Trish Walker. She's the CEO as well as the founder of the Idaho Black Community Alliance. And we will talk in just a little bit about the grand opening of their new community space in Meridian. But, Trish, one of the things that I know that you do to help promote and organize workshops and events. Um, one of them is is the Boise Soul Food Festival. So how how do events like that really help make us hopefully, a more inclusive community?
WALKER: You know, you can have so much relationship building over breaking bread, you know, over just eating a meal, over music, over just joining and understanding one's culture. If you've never had soul food, it's a great chance for you to come. And just to talk about the meal, about what you're eating, about how that meal came to be, and then understanding that that's something that that, that Black folks or whoever's cooking that soul food will cook and and they they mix it with love. They mix it with history. They mix it with with their family recipes. And so it's just a great time for us to be able to come together to experience something that you've never experienced and to just have a great time in, in fellowshipping with one another. We also have music and we have art, and we have retailers that we invite. And so it's just a great time for us to be able to come together and to learn in a different setting and a different environment.
GAUDETTE: And so I want to talk about this new community space, because last week you had a grand opening for this community space in Meridian. So first let's talk about the space itself and what it will be used for.
WALKER: So the space itself was donated to us. We have a a great space. It's right on Main Street in Meridian, Idaho. And we will be able to have, different folks come in and offer. So we had Zions Bank last week and they came and they presented some of their resources. And so it's an opportunity for those who want to support our community, to have a space to be able to come and to offer that that space and to teach or to train or to network. And so we're opening up this space to, to any possibilities that, that we want to, you know, that our community wants and that our community needs. We'll be having a a opportunity to have a conversation about home ownership. And so we're not just focusing on the business community. We're focusing on the communities as a whole. And so we want to be able to open this space up to use it for networking, for trainings, for for just growth and opportunity for the whole Idaho state community.
GAUDETTE: So anyone can use this new space. Trish.
WALKER: Yes. Anyone. We we do prioritize and we do. Our biggest focus is on the Black community because we're trying to grow the Black community. But we welcome anyone. We are very inclusive. We're in Idaho. We we need to be inclusive.
GAUDETTE: Well, and I love what you said about home ownership, right? I mean, because that's something where I think in this day and age, you know, so many people don't know those steps about, right, how to buy a home. What what do you. It seems so overwhelming and so daunting. So something like that is something that so many of us can, can take something away from.
WALKER: Yes yes, yes. And so we just really want to focus on those things that, that we, that we've never focused on number one. And number two, we want to make sure that we are creating an environment where we can all learn from each other, where we can all grow together, and we can all appreciate and understand that, you know, sometimes there's you don't ask those questions and so you don't know what you don't know. And so it can be very daunting and overwhelming. And some people just give up and we don't want people to give up on things like home ownership. If you want to be in business, we want you to ask those questions, and we want you to understand that there is someone there is no dumb question that you can ask even. And so we want to make sure that we're providing those resources for our community as well as our overall community. And we want to make sure that people know that if we're not, if we don't have the answer and we don't have all the answers, we'll make sure that we connect you with someone that does.
GAUDETTE: So what's next for the Alliance?
WALKER: Oh, right now we're preparing for the Boise Soul Food Festival, which is August 10th at Julia Davis Park in Boise. It will be from 11 to 8 p.m.. We're still looking for vendors. We're still looking for those who want to be involved. We're still looking for folks to sign up. We have entertainment. We will have. We're still looking for volunteers. Uh, we're still looking for sponsorship. And so we want the entire state of Idaho to be to be involved in this. We have thousands and thousands of people that show up for this event. It's a huge event. Uh, and it's just a great time and a great community event for all to, to be able to gather and to join in. So we're really preparing and ramping up for that.
GAUDETTE: And how can people find out more about the Alliance or provide support?
WALKER: You can go to our website at Idaho bca.com. You can reach out to me. We're also on Main Street in Meridian. You can come by and check us out. You can give us a call. You can give us an email. And we're always looking for support. We're always looking for those opportunities to support. We're also looking for those that want to come and share their expertise with our community and and just to share or to teach or to educate or to just empower.
GAUDETTE: Well, I want to thank you so much for taking time to talk with us about this and telling us more about the Idaho Black Community Alliance. I really appreciate the conversation.
WALKER: Thank you so much, and thank you for giving us the opportunity to just share with our community.
GAUDETTE: Oh, it's more than our pleasure. We've been talking with Trish Walker. She is the CEO and founder of the Idaho Black Community Alliance, discussing the grand opening of their new community space in Meridian. Thanks so much for listening to Idaho Matters. Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Matters are members of the NPR network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Gemma Gaudette. We'll see you tomorrow.
