We are here to serve our community healthy food.
The DEEP (Deep East Oakland Empowering the People) was birthed from a group of young people who saw a need and stepped up to make a lasting change.
Our vision and commitment is to open a grocery store that is conveniently located to Deep East Oakland residents. Our store will source organic produce and pantry items made from ingredients you can actually pronounce. We will partner with local Black and Brown farmers and creators as much as possible to keep our dollars circulating with people of color.
It’s gonna take a whole lotta work to bring this project into fruition. And we’re fully committed to doing the work.
Founding Worker Owners
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Yolanda Romo
CO - FOUNDER
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Erin Higginbotham
CO - FOUNDER
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Daniel Harris- Lucas
CO - FOUNDER
Jameelah.
An artist, entrepreneur and community organizer born and raised in Oakland, CA. Loyal to the soil; she has always been passionate about planting seeds of love and justice in her community. She received her B.A. in Sociology at California State University East Bay in 2017. Her studies inspired her to create and embark on her first business venture MELANAID; a beverage wellness company that prioritizes spiritual and emotional health in melanated communities. In 2020, she co-founded and became a member of The DEEP Grocery Cooperative, an upcoming natural grocery store for deep East Oakland residents, with the intention to help provide a solution to end food apartheid in the hood.
“Being raised in Oakland, I remember my mom shopping mostly at the liquor store and the Asian meat markets for our meals. Our closest grocery store was Pak’n Save on 40th and San Pablo where the cost of food was high and never fresh.