WKSU News: Cleveland neighborhood gets help in addressing its "food desert"

Monday, October 5, 2015 Cleveland neighborhood gets help in addressing its "food desert" A federal grant could help in the efforts to attract a grocery by WKSU's MICHAEL BRATTON	Reporter Michael Bratton

The Tremont West Development Corporation plans to bring Cleveland-based Constantino's Market to the neighborhood.

Courtesy of Constantino's Markets

Cleveland’s Tremont West Development Corporation has secured a $742,000 federal grant to try and bring a grocery store to the neighborhood’s “food desert.”

The non-profit group plans to use the funds to turn an empty mansion on West 14th Street and Fairfield Avenue into a Constantino's Market.

The corporation’s Executive Director Cory Riordan says bringing a grocer to Tremont will mean a lot to an area that has a high poverty rate and low annual incomes.

LISTEN: Riordan on the importance of a grocery in Tremont

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“We believe that by bringing a grocer into the neighborhood--that we can serve the both the emerging population and the population that is impoverished in the neighborhood by giving access to high quality, fresh produce and meats in a walkable area both for people who want that in the neighborhood and for people that are dependent on public transportation,” said Riordan.

Riordan also says the plan would include hiring 30 full-time workers.