INDIANAPOLIS — A $2.45 million initiative is underway to increase access to affordable and healthy food in one Indianapolis neighborhood.
The Northeast Corridor has been selected by LISC Indianapolis and Anthem Foundation for the Equitable Food Access Initiative.
The neighborhood currently has a Save-a-Lot grocery store that opened a few years ago, but some said that is not enough and there are still people who don’t have access to fresh food.
“We are losing lives early, whether it's due to pre-determinants of diabetes to the inaccessibility of affordable healthy fresh food, so the issue is major,” Ashley Gurvitz, Executive Director of the United Northeast Community Development Corporation explained.
Gurvitz said the funding will allow them to take numerous steps forward in increasing food access for residents.
The initiative will include opening a community hub for people to get help with food assistance programs, expanding urban farms and markets, creating a mobile food delivery program and others.
Neighbors, community leaders, health experts and organizations will all come together to make these programs a reality.
The programs will initially be in that northeast side neighborhood, however, many of them can be duplicated and expanded in other neighborhoods once more funding becomes available.
