- Credibility:
PILSEN — The Pilsen Food Pantry is moving into its own building this year.
The pantry has been inside a closed church at 1850 S. Throop St. since 2020. Pantry founder and family physician Evelyn Figueroa said negotiations with the Archdiocese of Chicago to sell the building to the pantry stalled, so the pantry’s organizers began searching for a new home.
Pantry leaders came across a building at 2124 S. Ashland Ave. three weeks ago and bought it, Figueroa said. The building, a former YMCA, has enough space for the food pantry, as well as the group’s free clothes closet, medical supply closet, little library and teaching kitchen, Figueroa said.
The group hopes to raise $75,000 to help cover the costs of renovations, such as installing a HVAC system, widening the outdoor ramp, replacing floors, fixing burst water pipes and adding a second bathroom, Figueroa said.
“We’ll really be able to do a lot of the same stuff in a really neat way,” she said.
Owning the pantry building means the organization’s leaders can more easily make changes and feel confident in its stability and future, Figueroa said. It isn’t clear what archdiocese leaders plan to do with the closed church on Throop.
“This helps a lot,” Figueroa said of the new building. “A lot of folks who wanted to help wouldn’t help until we owned the building.”
In addition to GoFundMe donations, Figueroa’s team is looking for people interested in donating their services or offering discounts on renovations. Anyone interested can reach out to organizers.
There will be an open house April 1 so neighbors can check out the pantry’s new space, Figueroa said. Renovations will start soon, and organizers hoped to seamlessly move the pantry over in June, she said.
The pantry serves 410 households each week, up from 160 to 180 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Figueroa said.
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