FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ST. LOUIS, MO — Every athlete dreams of the moment when years of sacrifice become reality. For Javon "Javo" Calmese, that moment has officially arrived. The St. Louis native and University of Saint Mary scholar-athlete has accepted a professional basketball contract to play in France for the upcoming season, launching the next chapter of a journey defined by perseverance, faith, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

For JaVo, France represents far more than a new destination—it represents the realization of a lifelong goal and the beginning of an international professional career.

After developing through the highly competitive collegiate ranks, JaVo now prepares to take his game to Europe, where he will showcase the physical style, basketball intelligence, and leadership qualities that have made him one of the region's emerging professional prospects.

"Playing professionally has always been the dream," said Javon Calmese. "Every workout, every practice, every obstacle has prepared…

LinkedIn was built for a world where your career defined you. We believe it's time for a platform built around what you're creating — not where you've been.

The Problem with LinkedIn

LinkedIn was designed in 2003 for a world where your employer defined your professional identity. It worked great for that world. But that world is changing fast.

Today, the most interesting professionals aren't defined by where they work — they're defined by what they're building. The indie founder shipping a SaaS product at midnight. The designer running a client studio while launching their own product line. The engineer with a 9-to-5 who's three months away from quitting to build full-time.

What We're Building Instead

Go shorty. We funding. We gon RFP like it's your birthday.

You’ve got big ideas. Community programs. Startup dreams. Neighborhood glow-ups. But chasing grants across broken PDFs, dead links, and government portals that look like they were coded during dial-up? Criminal behavior. Enter GitGrants — the grant search platform that actually understands the assignment. No fluff. No endless scrolling through irrelevant nonsense. Just smart, curated funding opportunities for nonprofits, small businesses, and community organizations across Missouri and beyond.

Funding never looked this good

⚡ Curated database

Every grant gets reviewed by real humans. That means:

We’re launching a Vide Coding Contest for builders, creators, hackers, and curious developers to showcase what they can create using AI-powered coding tools.

The rules are simple:

1. Create an account on HustleOpp.com 

2. Add your vibe coded app to your Project Card

3. Attach your deployed application and submit

We're hosting another free, high-impact 45-minute workshop revealing the AI-powered strategies top grant writers are using right now to research faster, write stronger proposals, and win more funding.

Time & Location

May 20, 2026, 6:00 PM – 6:50 PM CST

Virtual Event

Get your ticket: https://www.blockcheeze.com/event-details/learn-how-to-win-more-grants-using-ai

Blockcheeze founder, Jimmie Calmese looks at how Ai is being used in the grant development and management space. The technology surrounding artificial intelligence is having a huge impact on how grants are being developed and how funding opportunities are being discovered. In the video, Calmese looks are the Venice Ai platform and how to use it to expedite grant searches for nonprofit organizations.

We have partnered with GitGrants for funding opportunities.

GitGrants is totally Free and helps you discover those opportunities quickly — so you can spend more time doing the work that matters. Try GitGrants today. Blockcheeze has partnered with GitGrants who provides a innovative grant discovery platform for nonprofits, as well as, for-profit entities.

Features curated grants matched to your goals — for nonprofits, small businesses, and community organizations across Missouri and beyond.

⚡ Curated database

Every grant is reviewed for accuracy, eligibility clarity, and deadline currency.

Remember, you won't lose your job to Ai, you will lose your job to someone who is effectively using Ai

🎟 Get Tickets!

We're hosting another 45-minute MeetUp style workshops

Join us for an immersive and transformative workshop designed to help you harness the power of AI and integrate it seamlessly into your business workflow. This hands-on session will provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary to stay ahead in an increasingly AI-driven world.

⚡AI Prompt demonstrations for grant research and development

Everything Is Dope, a small but ambitious tech company, is blending vibe coding, deep technical experience, and emerging technologies to rapidly build purposeful applications. Their approach focuses on real-world impact, not just ideas. One example is Pivot, an app they’re leveraging in pursuit of a $500K real estate deal in partnership with Calmese Group LLC. Meanwhile, Hustle—currently in beta—is already proving valuable internally, helping the EID team manage collaboration spaces and launch new projects with greater speed, clarity, and alignment.

"We are putting this $429K SBA deal together using the Pivot app and it has really simplified our approach to financial forecast and the roadmap is very useful in helping our team incorporate Ai-generated workflows and ideas." EID has a…