'It's huge.' New grocery & health clinic gives residents in SE Canton healthy options

CANTON − The ribbon has been cut on a dream in southeast Canton.

After eight years, the Southeast Market Plaza has come to fruition.

A celebration ceremony took place on Saturday at the new facility at 1318 Gonder Ave. SE, which houses a Sommers Discount Market and a My Community Health Center clinic.

It means residents no longer have to travel across town for fresh groceries or basic medical services.

Funding for the $2.5 million project, which began in 2016, came from a combination of public-private partnerships led by the city of Canton, which donated $1.3 million in American Rescue Act Funds, along with grants from local foundations.

The project was spearheaded by the Rev. Don Ackerman, senior pastor at Crossroads United Methodist Church and executive director of Canton For All People, a community-development nonprofit, and North Canton contractor-philanthropist Bill Lemmon.

What Sommers Discount Market means to residents

Fourth Ward Councilwoman Chris Smith dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she shared how Southeast Market Plaza will change the lives of neighboring residents.

"I was 13 when they took away the last grocery store in southeast Canton," she said. "I'm so excited. It's like our hopes and dreams have come true. I was talking to a lady in the store who said she had to travel on a bus for two hours to shop at Walmart."

The 11,000 square-foot building once owned by Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority last housed a YMCA day care center. Smith said the city originally planned to demolish the building, which was donated by SMHA.

In addition to the grocery store and clinic, Smith said, there are plans to add a police precinct inside the building.

Sommers Discount Market owner Roland Sommers said he's proud to be part of the plaza. Proceeds from the store, which includes a deli, will go toward the Southeast Community Development Fund for future projects. The store accepts SNAP and WIC benefits.

"I love it down here; I love the people," said Sommers, who also has a store in Hartville. "I hired three or four people from this community. My employees make this business successful. I love serving people and giving them good deals."

Sommers said he was approached by the city about eight years ago but he wasn't prepared then to open a second location. Years, later, he was contacted by Ackerman.

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"It's funny how it came full circle," he said.

Carliesha Jackson said she has been working at Sommers Discount Market since it opened in March.

"I love it," she said. "I love what they do for the community. I'm from the community. I live right across the street."

Neighbors react to new market in southeast Canton

Neighbors Panther Spurlin and Ollie Gholston said they're happy Sommers Discount Market offers fresh food rather that alcohol and tobacco.

Spurlin, as vice president the Southeast Canton Neighborhood Association, is a five-year resident of the nearby Jackson-Sherrick apartments. She also served on the project's advisory committee.

"It's huge," she said. "I went from taking the bus and planning trips just to get groceries to steps way, Just the thought of having food in the community is huge. It feels like this community has been pushed aside so it's big; it's generational."

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Spurlin said Southeast Market Plaza also brings a holistic element to the neighborhood. "You start with health. Without it, you can't do anything."

Gholston has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years.

"I think it's great," he said. "For a lot of people down here, it gives them the chance to have something of their own."

Community activist Mark Bigsbee calls Southeast Market Plaza "a godsend."

"I love it," he said. "It's been a long time coming. I love that LaToya is running the clinic, and is there for the community. It's a godsend, It really is."

My Health Clinic part of the plaza

Nurse practitioner LaToya Latoya Dickens-Jones led tours through the My Health Clinic, which started seeing patients in January.

With offices in southwest Canton and Magnolia, the My Community Health Center is a federally qualified health center that offers primary care, obstetrics and gynecology, behavioral health, infections disease treatment, and in-house pharmacy and lab services.

The clinic accepts most major medical insurance and also accepts people without insurance. For the uninsured, fees are are based on a sliding scale according to federal poverty guidelines.

"I think its going to be awesome," Dickens-Jones said. "I have a lot of people walking in. It's opening doors for primary care that weren't there before."

During the ribbon-cutting, Smith acknowledged former Mayor Thomas Bernabei, whose administration secured a $60,000 grant from the Robert Wood Foundation in 2016 for health planning.

Bernabei noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated southeast Canton as a "food desert."

"This facility takes care of two series problems for this area," he said.

Current Mayor William V. Sherer II said the plaza is a testament to what can happen when people share a goal.

"It's the first step in many battles," he said. "Southeast Canton has the highest rate of infant mortality in the city."

Other city officials in attendance included City Council members James Babcock, Kevin Hall, Greg Hawk and William Smuckler.

Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-13, presented Ackerman with a congressional citation. Canton For All People has been involved with home repair and development in the city's Newtown Avenue Avenue NW neighborhood, and recently opened a grocery store on Shorb Avenue NW.

Ackerman noted that after the last grocery store closed 50 years ago, all the residents of southeast Canton had was hope.

"We had a bunch of residents 50 years ago who knew it wasn't right. But we don't dwell in scarcity. We live in God's economy of abundance. But I'm not going to preach," he said to laughter.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: SE Canton celebrates opening of Southeast Market Plaza