The Works, Inc.
The Works, Inc. used HFFI financing to support the expansion of the South Memphis Farmers’ Market to include a year-round greengrocer. The project will turn a vacant 3,600-square-foot former restaurant into a small grocery store with a permanent outdoor facility for the farmers’ market. An education and demonstration kitchen will host cooking and nutrition classes. This expansion will create 40 new, full-time, livable wage jobs with career potential for low-income residents in South Memphis. You can find more information here.
Source of money: HFFI CED Program
State & Local Policy Efforts
Mid South Healthy Food Initiative
Administered by Hope Enterprise Corporation in partnership with The Food Trust, the Mid South Healthy Food Financing Initiative is a regional healthy food financing program that offers offers flexible financing for new store development and renovations, as well as training with retailers to promote healthier choices projects across three states in the Mid South region. The initiative started in New Orleans but has grown to support grocery projects in urban areas across Mississippi, Louisiana and the greater Memphis area. The program was developed through the support of $3 million in initial seed funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, which was leveraged further by the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative. For more information about the program, visit the program website here.
Background and Advocacy: Tennessee Grocery Access Task Force
The Tennessee Grocery Access Task Force, convened by the Tennessee Grocery and Convenience Association (TGCA), the American Heart Association (AHA), and The Food Trust, met over the course of a year to develop policy recommendations to support supermarkets and other fresh food retail in underserved communities across the state.
- Learn more about the report that helped establish the task force: Food For Every Child: The Need for More Supermarkets in Tennessee.
- Learn more about the task force participants and policy recommendations generated by the task force: Stimulating Supermarket Development in Tennessee: A report of the Tennessee Grocery Access Task Force.
For a full understanding of Healthy Food Financing Initiatives from advocacy to implementation, see The Food Trust’s Healthy Food Financing Handbook.