THE FOLLOWING IS A PROJECT REAP RELEASE
He commits to giving back to the community via commercial real estate
National –Buffalo Bills wide receiver Trent Sherfield Sr., an NFL player for nine years, a Danville IL native and the founder of Danville Illinois’s Diamonds Amongst the Rough (DATR) Foundation, has joined Project REAP (Real Estate Associate Program)’s Academy and its inaugural 3P program for current and former professional athletes.
The Academy, REAP’s flagship program, has offered in-depth instruction in all aspects of commercial real estate to over 2000 Fellows since the organization’s founding in 1998. The 3P (Pro Players Property) initiative, launched last year, is a national program modeled after the Academy and administered by REAP in collaboration with Hampton University, a renowned HBCU of Hampton, VA. It was created by REAP Executive Director Taneshia Nash Laird and the REAP Board to empower current and former athletes from the NFL, NBA and WNBA to transition into successful careers in CRE. As statistics indicate that many athletes face financial decline, even bankruptcy, following retirement at relatively young ages, 3P aims to help them create meaningful careers post-retirement.
Says Sherfield, “Through REAP I’m understanding what commercial real estate really is. It’s not just about a piece of property. It’s about making a difference in people’s lives. It’s about the places we go to daily – where we live, work, play, and gather as a community. I understand now what an impact real estate has on people’s lives. I want to create places for people to enjoy, and I want the places to be affordable.”
Looking to the future through 3P, he says, “I’m 30 now and expect to play five more years. I have a whole lot of life after that and want to set myself up with the things I want to do.”
He adds, “I don’t want to be an athlete who just throws money at a project. I want to be involved every step of the way.”
Sherfield’s commitment to Danville, his hometown, and to giving back has deep roots. Aware of the high poverty rate in Danville, he studied and received his BA with a major in Medicine, Health and Society at Vanderbilt University and a minor in business. In the interdisciplinary major he focused on the nutritional challenges facing communities such as Danville that have many food deserts with extremely limited access to fresh, healthy and nutritious choices.
A passionate interest in real estate led Sherfield to create DATR in 2018, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a brighter future for Danville’s youth. He credits his father, a basketball coach, and his mother for aiding in organizing and helping to run DATR events. Sherfield’s goal is to raise money to fund the creation of Vermilion Rise (named for the Danville county in which it will reside), a campus to be built on 20+ acres of vacant land. The three-phase project will first house the DATR Training House, a sports complex with a gym and athletic fields. Next, the larger DATR Performance Center will feature administrative offices and classrooms where young people can learn about various non-sports-related fields from art to fashion design to culinary skills and more. The final element will be a mixed-use development with retail located on the lower levels and residential units above. Last year’s first DATR fundraiser garnered close to $100K. The next event is planned for 2027.
“I want to help young people grow, dream, succeed. DATR aims to foster a sense of hope and possibility,” says Sherfield, father to a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. “I want to build generational wealth.”
In spring training with the Bills daily from 6 am to 3 pm now through June 11, he studies at the Academy in remote group evening classes and takes self-paced coursework. He is simultaneously enrolled in a separate, specially tailored 3P curriculum.
Sherfield finds interacting with REAP Fellows and instructors highly motivating and looks forward to meeting current students and alumni at in-person events. He says, “I’m in athletics most of the day. In class I’m like a sponge. Many of the students have had careers in real estate. I’m soaking up knowledge from them and the instructors.”
For more information, see https://www.projectreap.org and https://www.projectreap.org/3p
