Community, city, and state partners will join Sankofa Community Development Corporation 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, to break ground on Fresh Stop Market in the Lower Ninth Ward.
The healthy food store will be the first of its kind to provide daily access to fresh fruits and vegetables in the community, which has been designated a food desert. Fresh Stop Market will afford residents a greater opportunity for healthy living, while also serving as a wellness center with a community learning kitchen to offer healthy cooking classes and cardiovascular health educational programs.
Construction of the Fresh Stop Market building, at 5029 St. Claude Ave., will be complete by the summer of 2022. And organizers expect its opening to serve as the springboard to several upcoming projects that Sankofa CDC has been developing with its partners to spur economic growth in the area, including the organization’s hosting of the Lower Ninth Ward Main Street program.
Sankofa’s financing and funding partners for the Fresh Stop Market development include HOPE Enterprise Corporation/Credit Union, the Reinvestment Fund, Kresge Foundation – American Cities, and the WK Kellogg Foundation.