NEIGHBORHOODS IN SYRACUSE and other communities in New York without adequate access to fresh food now stand to benefit from the New York Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative.
Patterned after the highly successful Fresh Food Financial Initiative in Pennsylvania, the Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative has been seeded with $10 million in state funding. The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), with an office in New York City, is the lead program administrator, and is partnering with The Reinvestment Fund (TRF); they have committed to leverage the $10 million to create a $30 million fund for loans and grants aimed at expanding access to fresh food markets for residents of underserved communities.
Retailers can apply for pre-development grants and loans, acquisition loans, equipment financing, and construction and permanent loans.
LIIF and TRF selected the Food Trust, which worked on the Fresh Foods Financing Initiative, as their food access organization, responsible for analyzing market opportunities in underserved areas.