This OKC grocery store opened to combat a food desert. Now it's offering more community resources

Representatives of nonprofits and community agencies will be able to meet with residents at a place nestled in their neighborhood — a local grocery store.

The Market at EastPoint & Eastside Eatery community grocery store recently celebrated the addition of the Bank of America Community Resource Room. Brandi Jones, a professional chef who serves at The Market at EastPoint, said the room was funded by a grant from Bank of America-Oklahoma City.

She said leaders of a clinic located next door to The Market graciously agreed to give up some of the clinic's floor space for the addition of the resource room. This was done in partnership with Dr. Charles Lunn and The Lynn Institute.

The store opened in April 2021 at 1708 NE 23. The nonprofit RestoreOKC founded the store as an answer to northeast Oklahoma City's designation at that time as a "food desert." The group partnered with Homeland (which later opened a store at NW 36 and Lincoln Boulevard) to stock the store, but much of the offered produce is grown at RestoreOKC's urban farm. The store is also part of RestoreOKC's Workforce Development Program, which provides participants with job training and management skills.

Caylee Dodson, RestoreOKC executive director, said the nonprofit had hoped to offer a community resource room at another location, but the plan was changed when that site was acquired by another community organization. She said leaders with Bank of America liked the idea of putting the room inside the store when that idea was proposed.

"Bank of America was a great partner in allowing us to pivot," Dodson said.

Tony Shinn, president of Bank of America-Oklahoma City, said Bank of America has been impressed with the work that RestoreOKC has done in the community so there was no problem allowing the nonprofit to use Bank of America Neighborhood Champion Grant funding for a different project from what was originally planned.

"So we thought 'Let's see if we can do a similar thing here at EastPoint grocery where people are,'" Shinn said. "We love to see the development here and we like to give back to the communities we serve."

Jones said representatives of local organizations offer information and a variety of community resources on Wednesdays, generally from 2 to 6 p.m. The organizations that have used The Market's community room and other other areas of the store to connect with customers include Palomar, Infant Crisis Baby Mobile, Urban League of Oklahoma City and Homeless Alliance. She said the room also affords privacy, if needed, for some health agencies that offer services.

"We're glad to see this happen for our community," Jones said.