Community-Driven Solutions for an Equitable Food System
LISC was pleased to be selected as a recipient of the Kroger Co. Foundation’s inaugural Racial Equity Build It Together grant. In 2021, LISC deployed funding to six on-the-ground organizations to address racial wealth, health and opportunity gaps in local food systems including Cihuapactli Collective and RAIL CDC. We're grateful that this grant gave our partners the flexibility to prioritize their most pressing needs and afforded them elbow room to put their expertise into action.
The excerpts below are from the Build it Together Grant final report.
Cihuapactli Collective: Centering Tradition to Improve the Well-Being of Indigenous Families
Cihuapactli Collective provides healing for urban Indigenous Peoples from the diaspora in Phoenix. Rooted in ancestral and Traditional Knowledge, the Collective inclusively supports the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self-determination of Peoples from womb to tomb through four sacred bundles. (We use the word bundles in the place of pillars to represent our ceremonial bundles and community responsibilities.) Our bundles include cultural restoration and education, food justice and land restoration, birth equity and reproductive justice, and advocacy and consultation.
Two major undertakings were accomplished through this grant. The first was the finalization of our strategic plan. Although we had tried to complete this project in previous years, the day-to-day operations of the Collective did not allow us to carve out time to accomplish the plan. Because of the funding from Kroger and the accountability from our beloved LISC community partners, we were able to carve out space for this task. Finalization of the strategic plan resulted in a review of our purpose, vision, collective code, and our bundles or what may be known as organizational pillars. This resulted in an updated logo and restructuring of our working groups which are now known as the aunties or azkatl in the Nahuatllanguage. (Azkatl refers to the insect ants which are considered to be the workers/builders.) The second important milestone was the completion of a video that allowed us to capture the Cihuapactli Collective story. This is a story that we often verbally share by way of introducing ourselves and orienting others to the work of the Collective. Now we have a visual representation of that story that has the potential of reaching a wider audience. So far the response has been warm and moving to receive. As a Collective, we are humbled by the result.
One goal identified in our strategic plan is to acquire and own land for the building of a community wellness center and a farm where we can center and teach traditional knowledge, native science and ceremony in ways that connect birth equity and reproductive justice to food justice. BIPOC organizations need land, financial support, and to lead the conversation regarding decisions that impact their community. If we are to create systemic change we must create new systems instead of modifying historical systems that have intentionally failed BIPOC-led food justice organizations.
Watch Cihuapactli Collective's Video
RAIL CDC: Engaging Asian Foodpreneurs in a Curated Restaurant Academy
With the losses due to the pandemic, we wanted to do something tangible to really help local businesses along the Mesa/Tempe Light Rail Corridor. Our focus was on the Mesa Asian District and supporting businesses that had not received pandemic relief. The Mesa Asian District has become a hub of more than 100 local Asian-owned businesses and grocery stores. We partnered with the Asian Chamber of Commerce who has deep connections and working relationships with some of the hardest hit communities in Mesa.
The grant allowed us to focus specifically on food-based businesses and develop workshops specifically around food. Much of the work we have done is around general business practices. We quickly had 20 businesses opt-in through our outreach and marketing campaign in the first few months. These businesses expressed an urgent need for technical assistance. While we had TA programs before, and one-on-one support, this grant award provided RAIL CDC the opportunity to recruit new businesses. We also expanded our network of food-service industry consultants and developed resources around food justice and BIPOC businesses.
RAIL CDC’s Asian Restaurant Academy was structured for any food-based business. During the virtual academy, new and established business owners participated in a series of workshops and supplemental one-on-one sessions. Workshop topics included insurance and legal, marketing and sales, process and safety, human resources and leadership, and financial and business planning. In addition to the workshops, we assisted participants with shifting their businesses to more online-ready platforms and engagement, hosted a tournament-style restaurant competition to drive visibility and patronage, and helped restaurant proprietors apply for funding. As a result, 16 Asian Restaurant Academy participants received a grant or loan during the grant period, including 15 businesses awarded $147,699 in grants and seven businesses that acquired $184,616 in loans. We will continue to work with additional business owners to help them apply for grants that are still available in Maricopa County.
The [Build It Together] funding gave us flexibility and focus in a way that wasn’t done before. The grant helped us stay agile and serve more businesses in the ways they actually need support.
To learn more about RAIL CDC, watch their Build It Together video.