Copyright M Live Michigan
FLINT, MI – Freddie Fisher danced her way into the North Flint Food Market on Wednesday afternoon. One of the first of approximately 900 member-owners that are part of the food cooperative, she had waited for the day the store would open its doors for the community. “I’m soaking it in,” Fisher said, hugging others as they walked through the doors to applauding staff members. “It’s been like 11 years… I’m praying that we stay together and continue to shop because we all got to eat.” The market is the brainchild of Rev. Reginald Flynn, co-founder and executive director of the North Flint Reinvestment Corporation. “For a decade, we wandered in the wilderness, hoping for what many communities take for granted – access to healthy food, job, career” he told a crowd of more than 100 gathered Wednesday, Nov. 12, during a ceremony prior to a ribbon cutting and the store officially opening at noon for customers. “Proclaiming what I call the gospel of groceries. “In a land of famine amidst of a forgotten people in a disinvested Northland corridor. Today, I see, we see, victory in the valley. But deep down, I want you all to know that the battle is not over.” The market’s journey to opening has been challenging since ground was broken more than four years ago. Plans to open in 2022 were shelved because of higher-than-expected equipment costs and the COVID-19 pandemic. Attempts to secure project funding from the city never materialized, and market officials’ most recent request for $300,000 to help pay for staff onboarding, development, and training also failed to be approved by the City Council in October. Market officials committed to opening the store after securing a $1.5-million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation this year. The foundation had previously supported the project with $2.1 million in grants in 2021 and 2022, saying the market was the best bet for ensuring fresh, healthy and affordable food options in an area that’s been described as a food desert. Meijer and Kroger stores in the area closed in recent years and less than a mile from the new market site, Hamady Complete Food Centers opened in 2018 but closed four months later, citing low customer traffic and sales. “Let me be unequivocally clear. This store is much more than a place to buy groceries. Unbeknownst to me, I learned… during this journey that this cooperative movement has become a divine place of the restoration of hope, pride and dignity,” Flynn said on Wednesday. “It has become an inspiring place of the resurrection of our capacity to unite for the collective good of our community. It has become a place of hope.” He called it “the essence and spirit of Ujamaa,” describing Ujamaa as the foundational principle of cooperative economics that encourages people to pull their dollars together. Flynn said a third phase and long-term goal for developing the corridor is the potential establishment of a financial services business/credit union to create an economic development hub. “This is a movement of cooperation with people who have historically been included or excluded from the economy,” he said. “Now feel that they have a sense of ownership and pride and dignity having owned what they desire.” Individual member-owners can invest in the co-op for $250 -- or $500 for churches and other organizations. Those who became a member-owner in the co-op have a voice in deciding the board of directors, receive coupons and discounts at the store, Flynn said, as well as dividends if the store should become profitable. “It is time for all of us. It is time for all of you that have quietly sat back and watched some of us labor. It is time for all of you to join with us,” Flynn said. “Time for all of you to join the fight. It is time to do battle. It is time to combat the cynics and the critics and the skeptics, the doubters and the disbelievers.” “Many have said, as our board president has mentioned, that this won’t work. Many have said that it won’t be sustainable. Many have said it’s not feasible. Many have said it will not survive. Many have said the employees will steal from it. Many have said the community will not support it,” he continued. “But those of you that know me know that I’ve never paid any attention to what many people have said. “All I know is this, is that we will not close if you all join the fight. How do you join the fight? So glad you asked. How do you join the fight? I want to encourage you today. Speak life into your store. Pray for your store. Shop at your store. Defend your store. Protect your store. Guard and defend your store. Champion your store.” Flynn called on those involved to attend monthly meetings, learn about the “cooperative principles” of the store, and volunteer their time and talent. He thanked everyone who helped this moment come to fruition, including aid “from above.” “It’s that help that will touch all of us in such a way to give strength to us, to not only work and unite together as a community, but to ensure that what we do passes on from generation to generation to generation,” Flynn said. Before he even began speaking, he was drawn to tears. Marjorie and Pastor Earl Willis, Flynn’s parents, paid a surprise visit from Texas for the opening and shared a long embrace ahead of his address. “They laid the foundation. My dad’s a pastor, retired pastor, my mom a former educator, basketball girls coach,” said Flynn, calling them examples for himself on service and dedication to community. “I’m just a continuation of what they instilled in me many years ago.” Watching her son grow up playing ball at Beecher, Marjorie Willis said her son was a quiet child “but now he has so much to (say)” and was just saving it for the right time. “He’s constantly giving back,” she said. “It’s just a wonderful day for us to see him really achieve the things, his vision, the vision God gave him.” While there were obstacles encountered in the journey, Willis told him, “Just do you work because, see, you can’t control what somebody else does, but you can control what you do. So, whatever is thrown against you, you don’t retaliate. You elevate.” The first customer, after Flynn picked up a rotisserie chicken for supper, was Flint resident Sandra Emery who purchased some lemonade. “It means we’ve got some place to spend our money now. We don’t have to go out to Walmart,” she said of the new spot in the community. “We’re right here and we’re going to protect this store...we’re going to secure it and make sure it works. “They always put Flint on the bad side, bad water, criminals. We’ve got something good and we’re going to keep it.”
