MOSES' VISION: GROUP PUSHES TO GET A FULL-SERVICE
GROCERY STORE WITHIN THE CITY

Ponsella Hardaway, director of MOSES, stands at a site near Woodward and East Bethune avenues that the group is viewing as a possible spot for a full-service grocery store.

Following the closure of the Farmer Jack store on Jefferson Avenue in 2007, Detroit residents were left with limited grocery options.

In fact, Detroiters have to travel an average of 10 miles to get to the nearest full-service grocery store, something many residents aren't able to do, said Ponsella Hardaway, director of Detroit's faith-based Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength.

“Detroiters have challenges in accessing fresh foods,” she said.

Founded in 1997, and including 38 congregations and 15 organizations and institutions from the metro area, MOSES is rallying to create a pilot program for a sustainable full-service grocery store model in the city. MOSES is reviewing several sites, including a lot near Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard, said Hardaway.

“The idea is to drive a better quality market with ethnic sensitivity that leverages local produce,” she said.

MOSES is hoping to mimic the efforts of Jeff Brown, owner of Westville, N.J.-based Brown's Super Stores Inc. Brown secured funding to open four of his ShopRite grocery stores in low-income areas of Philadelphia.

Hardaway envisions a community center and cooking courses within the grocery store as well.

“Our dream is to build this from the ground up,” she said. “We want to create a pilot program that can be duplicated and provide healthy foods to Detroit's neighborhoods.”

Click here to view full calendar

A Meeting for Clergy & Elected Officials
to discuss regionalism.

click here

NEW DATE & TIME!!!

click here

“We have an opportunity to reinvent Detroit like never before. Every Detroiter has a voice and a role in this process.”~ Mayor Dave Bing
State of the City Address, March 2010

Let’s get to work and make Detroit work - for you, this generation and generations to come. Join us and help begin building the Detroit Strategic Framework, a plan towards a stronger city.

Mayor Bing invites you to join us at any of the meetings listed below:

• Tuesday, September 14, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
  Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. Seven Mile Road
  
  
• Thursday, September 16, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
  American Serbian Memorial Hall, 19940 Van Dyke Street
  
  
• Saturday, September 18, 10:3o a.m.-12:30 p.m. (doors open at 10 a.m.)Whittier Manor, 415 Burns Drive
  
  
• Tuesday, September 21, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
  El Kiosko Banquet Hall, 7271 Dix Street
  
  
• Wednesday, September 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren Avenue