Community Grocery Store & Food Hub

For generations, Hayti was home to Black-owned businesses, neighborhood markets, and places where food, commerce, and community came together. Today, as the Villages of Hayti begins to take shape, we have an opportunity to help restore that legacy while imagining something new for future generations.

Alongside neighborhood leaders, F7 Development, Monument of Faith Church, the Grant Street Ladies, and a growing coalition of community partners, we're working to support the development of a neighborhood grocery store within the Villages of Hayti.

While bringing fresh food closer to home is an important goal, our hope is that this project becomes much more than a grocery store.

We believe it has the potential to become a community food hub—one that supports local farmers, improves public health, creates educational opportunities, strengthens Durham's local food economy, and reconnects neighbors with the rhythms of food, land, and community.

Over the past several months, we've been building relationships with organizations and leaders who each bring an important piece to that vision.

These conversations include:

• F7 Development and developer James Montague, who are leading the grocery store development within the Villages of Hayti under Durham Housing Authority.

• Dr. Lawrence David's Researsch Lab, Edible Atlas, at Duke University, exploring how community-based wastewater research can help better understand nutrition, food access, and neighborhood health outcomes.

• Black Farmers' Market, where founder JaNell Henry shared that one of the greatest opportunities for Black farmers is expanding wholesale markets.

• Tall Grass Food Box, where co-founder Derrick Beasley helped us imagine a grocery store that not only sells food but also reconnects neighbors with seasonal eating, food preservation, cooking, and healthier relationships with local agriculture.

• Durham CAN, working alongside neighborhood residents to ensure community voices remain central throughout the process and we keep our developers accountable.

• Healthcare leaders, foundations, and philanthropic partners who recognize the important connection between food access and long-term community health.

Together, these partnerships are helping us imagine a grocery store where:

• Fresh produce is sourced from local and regional Black farmers whenever possible.

• The produce department creates new wholesale opportunities for Black growers.

• Farmers connected through Tall Grass Food Box have dedicated shelf space within the store.

• Neighbors can purchase food using EBT and SNAP benefits.

• Residents can sign up for seasonal food subscriptions and connect directly with local farmers.

• Families can participate in workshops on cooking, nutrition, gardening, and food preservation.

• The grocery store becomes a gathering place that strengthens relationships while improving neighborhood health.

We believe food is more than a commodity.

Food tells stories.

Food builds community.

Food creates opportunities for economic mobility.

Food has the power to improve health while preserving culture.

By bringing together farmers, researchers, healthcare partners, educators, neighborhood leaders, and residents, we hope to cultivate a local food ecosystem that serves Hayti for generations to come.

Today, the immediate need is approximately $3 million to complete the interior of the future grocery store. At the same time, we're pursuing a much broader vision.

Our goal is to help raise $10 million to support not only the grocery store itself, but also the long-term programming, partnerships, educational initiatives, and community organizations that will help this project flourish for decades.

As always, we believe the most meaningful transformation happens when neighbors lead, relationships come first, and communities are empowered to shape their own future.