North Charlotte nonprofit expands service among food deserts
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — After more than two years of service to neighborhoods along Charlotte’s Beatties Ford Road corridor, one organization has expanded its service to senior adults who are unable to obtain healthy foods in their community.
For The Struggle has served more than one hundred senior adults twice a week since its inception in 2019.
The focus has been in the Beatties Ford Road area which is not just where the organization’s head office is, but it’s also one of the largest food deserts in the community.
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Monday afternoon, the organization expanded delivery services to families in the Thomasboro-Hoskins area, with plans to soon include the Hidden Valley and Grier Heights food deserts.
“This is the only fresh meal most of these families get a week,” explained head chef Antwan Chambers.
On Mondays, Chambers prepares more than one hundred fresh salad plates for people, while he crafts higher protein hot plates on Wednesdays.
“A lot of these people are our neighbors, and so we see, first hand, the struggle it is for a lot of them to go out and purchase fresh food,” he explained.
For most of these senior adults, the nearest grocery store is more than a mile away.
They either do not have transportation to shop or do not have the physical ability to get there.
“We see just how much of an impact this is having,” explained Erica Gibson, who has been with For the Struggle for years.
Within her deliveries, she said she has not seen much movement in terms of access to food.
“I haven’t seen a lot of grocery stores being built in the food deserts or the communities that are labeled as food deserts. And I would say it is a bit disheartening, our seniors, because they are so appreciative of the mills and just let us know that there is a need,” Erica said.
She anticipates that the number of adults they feed will more than double within the next six months.
The conversations she’s had with families have shown the biggest fear with food access has stretched before the physical accessibility of fresh produce, but the growing cost.
“Inflation is very real, and a lot of these people are on fixed income,” Erica explained.
Neighbors fear the recent additions of some businesses and construction to build high-income homes nearby could spell disaster for those who may not be able to afford the cost of living in a place they’ve called home for decades.
“They worry they will have nowhere else to go.” If you want to learn how you can help, or if you need help, click here.
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