A new pharmacy-style market will be coming to West Dayton to fill a gap in healthy and affordable food access while helping mothers navigate food aid programs.
The Healthy Family Market is a social enterprise project from the Sunlight Village — a nonprofit that provides youth mental health services in West Dayton.
Right now, it’s just an empty lot near the DeSotos Bass development on Germantown Street. But soon the market will serve a community that has seen historical disinvestment.
The market will be open for the entire community, with plans to accept SNAP and have a coffee and smoothie shop for visitors.
It will have a focus on providing foods approved for the Women Infants and Children (WIC) food assistance program and addressing infant mortality rates in West Dayton.
Robbie Brandon, the director of the market, said the limitations in foods can be frustrating for mothers trying to navigate the program.
“It can be very daunting for a young mom or a parent who's got her kids with her or whatever the case may be or anybody who's shopping with WIC,” Brandon said. “And then if you got the wrong product, then everybody in the line has to wait. And a lot of people can be impatient.”
A Food Research & Action Center report from 2019 highlighted that many people eligible for WIC don’t enroll due to limited food options, lack of transportation or misconceptions about eligibility.
In Ohio, limitations around eligible food such as tofu, egg size and yogurt flavors can make navigating the program difficult. Brandon, who’s also a registered nurse and grew up in DeSoto Bass, wants to ease that.
“High quality foods, high customer service, friendly family atmosphere is what we're focusing on. We feel like we deserve that over here in West Dayton and there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do that,” Brandon said.
The pharmacy-style model means people participating in WIC can turn in a list of foods they need or order online, and then wait in a reception area or at the coffee shop while workers pick the food for them.
The social enterprise project has raised more than $600,000 in grants, as well money through partnerships with Greater Dayton Premier Management, the Hall Hunger Initiative, Citywide, Co-op Dayton and several other partners.
The project is estimated to cost about $1.2 million. Construction could start later this year.
Alejandro Figueroa is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Support for WYSO's reporting on food and food insecurity in the Miami Valley comes from the CareSource Foundation.
