About The Oasis
Petersburg Is Ours.
A Black-led nonprofit growing food, leadership, and spirit on the soil of Petersburg, Virginia — anchored as an invitation, never charity.
Our Story
A community that sows together, grows together.
Petersburg Is Growing was born from a simple conviction — that a city designated a food desert is also a city full of seeds. We turned vacant lots into raised beds, raised beds into four Pathways, and Pathways into a village.
The five-acre Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm is owned and stewarded by the Central Virginia Agrarian Land Trust. Petersburg Is Growing manages the Petersburg Oasis Youth Farm — one of four farms on that land — as a working urban farm, youth education campus, volunteer network, and leadership pipeline. Tyrone Cherry helped start this work; the land trust now holds the land so the community can grow here for generations.
The Little Lights who started with us are now mentoring the next cohort. Our one-hour documentary about Melanin Magic School launches alongside this site — inspiring families to enroll, volunteer, and invest in impact.
The Oasis Ecosystem
This is bigger than a farm.
Petersburg Is Growing is a Black-led organization rooted in Petersburg for over a decade. But what we've grown is an entire ecosystem:
The Oasis Youth Farm
Where our young people learn to grow — one of four farms on the five-acre Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm, owned and stewarded by the Central Virginia Agrarian Land Trust. Petersburg Is Growing manages this youth section; the land trust holds the land.
A leadership pipeline
Moving a young person from their first day on the soil all the way to governing and funding the work.
A food-access network
Farm stand, mobile market, and community partnerships bringing fresh food to a food desert.
A cultural bridge
Connecting Petersburg's young people to their heritage and to Mother Africa — including our developing relationship with the KASI Institute and HABESHA.
We are not a program that parachutes in and leaves. We are of this place. We grow food, we grow leaders, and we grow the future — right here at home.
Every day begins with breath, gratitude, and libations to the ancestors who worked this land before us. That's not a ceremony we perform. It's who we are.
Brand Story
Freedom rooted in mulberry.
Our rebrand centers on a fresh sprout flanked by two mulberry bush limbs with mulberries. The mulberry symbolizes freedom and trust rooted in Petersburg's history.
During the Underground Railroad era, a mulberry tree in front of a home signaled that it was owned by a free Black person — someone who had their freedom and could be trusted.
Petersburg Is Growing carries that legacy forward, working toward mental, spiritual, and civic freedom and liberty for the community.
Core Philosophy
Purpose to Profession.
Your passion should become your profession — where passion meets the needs of the people, there lives your vocation. All pathways start with volunteerism, demonstrating commitment to community and change first. This evolves into professional employment, entrepreneurial opportunity, and skill development.
Empowerment through Education
Experiential learning on the farm, in classrooms, and across every pathway — wisdom passed hand to hand.
Empowerment through Exposure
Immersion trips, documentary storytelling, and community experiences that widen what young people can imagine.
Empowerment through Employment
Market training, farm fellowships, and paid roles that turn commitment into livelihood inside Petersburg.
Empowerment through Entrepreneurship
Flow Fund circles, business-card FUNctions, and youth-led ventures where passion becomes profession.
A Daily Ritual
B.A.G. & Libations
Breathwork, Affirmation, Gratitude + honoring our ancestors.
In The Oasis, we don’t just grow food. We grow spirit. Every gathering begins with ancestral honoring and self-centered stillness — because the work of the village starts inside.
B
Breath
A
Affirm
G
Gratitude
The Team
Hands you'll meet in the row.
Meet the Executive Board — full biographies and farm hours on Our Board.
Board of Directors
Tyrone P. Cherry III
Executive Director / Founder
Karima Cherry
Secretary & Market Director
Nathaniel X. Graves III
Chief Financial Officer
Larry Bartenstein
Volunteer Chair