It’s with full hearts that we have some big news to share with our friends and neighbors.
Kinship Community Food Center is building a new home.
We are building a new home with the same heart, just with more room to grow.
Our new site, located on the southwest corner of N. Holton and W. Locust streets, is in the same neighborhood we already serve.
Our story continues to grow...
We are proud to champion the development of Milwaukee’s first Community Food Center, a prototype for the future of food communities.
We are looking forward to sharing the next chapter, together with you.
Our entire staff, including Workforce Trainees and Mission Interns, on the new property where our Food Center will be built.
Our Story continues to grow…
What is Kinship building?
Kinship is building Milwaukee’s first Community Food Center to continue the work that Kinship started over 40 years ago to relieve the financial stress of food insecurity and dietary illness for thousands of low-to-moderate income households in the Riverwest-Harambee neighborhoods.
Where is Kinship building?
We are building our new Community Food Center on a one-acre vacant lot at 421 E. Locust Street, on the southwest corner of N. Holton and W. Locust streets.
Why is Kinship building?
We have outgrown our old space.
For years we have subleased a space in the basement with:
Weekly set up and tear down
Limited schedule for access and programming
Confined spaces that create congestion and are a liability
Limits to quality food storage and acceptance of larger food donations
Entrances and exits that are not handicapped accessible
Limited private space for consultation
Our current space hinders our ability to run our programs efficiently and safely.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
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A Community Food Center is a new approach to addressing hunger and wellbeing that responds to our community’s desire for stronger connections, better wellness programming, and more support for housing and employment stability.
Through the power of food, Community Food Centers helps residents build nourishment, belonging, and opportunity in low-income communities, while bringing people from all cultural and economic backgrounds together.
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Committed to staying in the area we’ve served for 46 years, we searched for a new location for over the past five years to make sure we found the best spot that allows us to continue serving our community.
Kinship purchased this piece of land at at 421 E. Locust Street in the Harambee neighborhood in fall of 2024 and has spent the last year preparing for the construction of the building.
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Our proposed 28,000 square foot Community Food Center will:
Expand Kinship’s grocery and meal capacity in an accessible, operationally safe, and efficient manner
Increase current services to support resident stability and combat social isolation
Offer additional services in health, financial literacy, physical and emotional well-being etc.
Broaden our workforce culinary and employment program by launching a second business in a state-of-the-art catering and production kitchen
Our new home will allow us to expand our programming and increase our impact.
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After carefully exploring whether the trees could be preserved, our team concluded that the removal of the trees on the lot was necessary to build the best possible Community Food Center for our neighborhood.
However, this does not mean a loss of green space. At our new site, we will repurpose the trees that were removed and plant 30 new ones. The space will also include activated outdoor areas, such as gardens and a greenhouse, creating welcoming green spaces for the community.
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According to our construction timeline, our building is estimated to be done by early spring of 2027.
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We anticipate some increased noise from construction vehicles and activity, as well as minor disruptions on the surrounding streets during the building process.
We greatly appreciate your patience during this time and look forward to the completion of the project, when Kinship’s services will be available to the immediate neighborhood and the broader community.
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YES! For our primary food services, we primarily serve the 53202, 53203, 53211, 53212, and 53217 zip codes, but we will serve anyone on a first-time basis.
For our volunteering and other programming, we welcome people from all neighborhoods to joins us in creating community.
As we get closer to completing the building project, we will share further details about how to become more involved.
Any further questions that aren’t answered here?
Email us at info@kinshipmke.org.
Heat Map of where community members live who are recipients of food.
Our Commitment to this Community
Kinship is proud of its history, which began by providing food to undernourished neighbors in Milwaukee. Over the past decade of its 46-year history, Kinship has developed and proven an innovative model that is changing how hunger is addressed in the city.
This heat map shows current shopper frequency at the Kinship Community Food Center and highlights why the Holton and Locust site is an ideal location to meet the grocery and food needs of the surrounding community who already shop with us.
Kinship serves more than 19,000 people each year strengthening food security while also addressing dietary illness, social isolation, housing instability, and long-term health. Through this work, Kinship fosters neighborhood engagement, economic stability, volunteerism, and the development of community leaders.
We are excited to step into this new chapter with you. Keep checking back to this webpage for further updates on our new exciting home!
WAYS to GET INVOLVED
