The store was built in 2011, about three years after I had started as a volunteer with Urban Pathways. Its presence was a big deal, as it was the first accessible grocery for the after-school families. Most of “Southeast,” as it was called by local residents, was a food desert at the time. The area was often referred to by politicians, policymakers, and urban planners as a neglected area in need of “revitalization” despite much evidence that Black communities had done their best to survive and at times thrive there, even though the area had been intentionally underdeveloped over the course of several decades. The grocery store signaled to the students and their families that better things were to come, and my observations as a researcher indicated to me that shopping there was a source of excitement and adventure for the young students, who were nine to thirteen years old.
