A new four bed men’s group home will be opening up on July 1 in Mount Olive. Owner Sadio Sykes, held a ribbon cutting on Friday, June 21 at her business located at 1116 South Church Street in Mount Olive.
Five Mount Olive Chamber of Commerce members joined her for a ceremony in front of the home. At the start of the event, Sykes welcomed the crowd and told them what services her business would be offering to the community.
Before cutting the ribbon, Mental Health Therapist Helen Artis-Armstrong said a moving prayer over the business.
“Now that’s a prayer,” Mount Olive Chamber President Julie Beck said jokingly.
After the ribbon cutting ceremony Sykes invited everyone inside for refreshments, and attendees gathered to network, ask questions, and tour the facility. During that time Sykes spoke to the crowd about her life and how it led her to open Fountain of Youth.
“Actually even before I left Mount Olive I wanted to open my group home. I worked at a retirement village and I felt like I didn’t want my own people there when they get old, so I said that I am just going to have to take care of y’all. I thought that having a group home was just for seniors, but once I started doing the research and the things I had to do, I found out that there was a whole broad population that needed to be served,” Sykes explained. “So I started making my way and doing the things I needed to do. I became a licensed administrator for the state of North Carolina, and then I started working on the property I had here which was smarter for me to fix up instead of going out and buying or renting a property. So I worked my way for the last year, nine months to be exact, and I fixed the home and got licensed and registered with the state of North Carolina,” she further explained.
The home belonged to her aunt. She felt it was a perfect location to put her business as well as to keep her family’s legacy alive.
“The homes were already here, and I want to serve everyone, but I wanted to start at home and serve the people of my home. Not to say I won’t serve others too, but I wanted to start with what was close and dear to me which was home. I was raised in this house. My aunt passed away in 2012. Her name was Mary B. Williams. They called her Number Baker, she was a pillar of the community as well. That is where we get this from. This is where the hospitality, the caring, the giving, the taking care of one another, this is where it comes from. So I fixed up her house, and I know she is happy that we are doing this instead of renting it out.”
There is a second property on Kelly Street that her family owns that she is working on fixing up to be the second location.
“I would love to get with some of the home owners and the town, and find some of these houses that are just sitting here vacant with nothing to do. Get these homes fixed up and get some of the population in them.”
Sykes is very passionate about her work and explained why she named her business Fountain of Youth.
“In the beginning I pictured an actual fountain, and I actually pictured seniors drinking from that fountain and becoming youthful. That’s my dream. My dream is to own a 100 bed nursing facility. The first African American female to own that, and I want to start with my town and the people that are closest to us. One of my slogans is, ‘to care for those that once cared for you.’”
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