Gleaners to open 'market-style' facility in Warren to help Metro Detroit families in need of food assistance

WARREN (WWJ) — Metro Detroit will soon have a new option for emergency food assistance for families struggling to put food on the table.

Gleaners Community Food Bank on Tuesday announced it will be opening “Fresh! by Gleaners” on 8 Mile Road in Warren early next year. The market-style facility will feature an indoor “shopping” style experience, as well as drive-through and curbside pick up options.

Calling it a “launch and learn pilot,” Gleaners officials say the facility will offer “an innovative approach for households facing hunger to get free, nutritious food at times and in quantities they want and need to help manage household budgets.”

Particularly, Fresh! by Gleaners will have an abundance of items that guests have said they want and need the most — fresh produce, dairy and eggs. Much of the money for the market will be provided by a number of local partners.

“By seeking input from our guests, community partners and donors, and using data to inform and guide our decisions, we can improve how we walk alongside families and break down barriers in their journey to thrive,” said Gerry Brisson, president and CEO of Gleaners.

The new facility has been in the works for more than five years with planning and concept testing and gathering input from community members.

“Over the past several years, Gleaners has engaged in listening sessions with nearly a dozen local partner agencies to discuss where there are gaps in service and how we can incorporate their feedback into the model to help close those gaps,” said Judith McNeeley, vice president of community engagement for Gleaners. “The feedback has been incredibly positive as a complement to the important work our partners are doing every day to nourish the community.”

Construction is expected to begin early this summer and open at some point in early 2025. The location was chosen based on “an assessment of residential population density and food insecurity rates, will primarily serve the needs of the surrounding Warren and Detroit community.”

Headquartered in Detroit, Gleaners serves five Southeast Michigan counties — Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe — and provides food to nearly 400 partner agencies, including schools, soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and others across the region, and supplements the efforts of those partners by offering direct-service, drive-up grocery distributions.

More information on the new Fresh! by Gleaners facility, as well as how to receive help from Gleaners can be found at https://www.gcfb.org/ .

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