SEED Center sprouts in Vicksburg Mall thanks to two ‘Hope Dealers’

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — Two former Vicksburg educators have launched the SEED Center (Student Education and Employment Development), a new micro-school and job-readiness center aimed at supporting under-served students and their families.

Jessica Holly and Frederick LeFlore, both former VWSD public school employees, have opened the SEED Center inside the Vicksburg Mall. The 3,200-square-foot facility will offer a range of services, from hybrid academic support for students to resume building and interview prep for adults.

“In the public school sector, you’re really limited in what you can do,” said Holly. “We wanted to do so much more—without red tape, without having to ask for permission to do what’s right for children. We don’t just serve students. We take in their families. We want to be a hub.”

The SEED Center will operate as a hybrid-model micro-school for grades 6–12, with in-person tutoring after school for students in grades 4–8. The program will also offer credit recovery, life skills coaching, job readiness, and placement support for eligible participants.

“We’re really a little disenfranchised with what we’re seeing in education,” said LeFlore. “Even though we’re out of the public sector, we still want to serve the students we saw were being under-served.”

Holly and LeFlore also plan to establish partnerships with local businesses to create job training and internship opportunities for students.

“The biggest push for us is getting the business community to partner with us,” said Holly. “Once students finish their schoolwork, we want to give them a chance to intern or work in industries they’re interested in.”

For the two founders of the SEED Center, the mission is about more than academics or employment—it’s about offering hope.

“If we have children who feel left out, who need someone to motivate them—our doors are open,” she said. “If we have parents who want to work but don’t know where to start, they can come here. We want this to be a safe space.”

“We want people to come in even though they’re not feeling the greatest, but leave with hope. That’s what we do. We’re hope dealers.”