The Peace Neighborhood Center’s new HUB Community Center and food pantry has opened in Ypsilanti Township on 1515 S. Harris Road.
The center is open two days a week on Mondays and Thursdays. On Mondays, it is open from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and Thursdays from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
The center has more programming such as a community dinners that are hosted every Tuesday from 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., and a senior cafe which is hosted on the first and third Wednesday of the month from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
The nonprofit organization, based in Ann Arbor, has been around since 1971 and provides services in advocacy, emergency assistance, after-school programs, summer day camps, and much more throughout Washtenaw County.
They also operate a food pantry in collaboration with Food Gatherers.
"We decided we needed to put it here, because this area is a food desert," Bonnie Bullips Jr. said, who is the executive director of the Peace Neighborhood Center. "From where we sit at 1515 South Harris, the nearest grocery store is about two miles away, and the nearest chain grocery store is over three miles away."
Bonnie explains that the area where they are is a food desert because a majority of residents spend about 50% of their annual income on housing and transportation.
"The U.S. government says you should spend no more than 30% on housing," Bullips said.
Bullips wants the pantry to be a go-between for people that couldn’t afford to get food for the week, and need more food to at least sustain themselves for a short time. The pantry is one of the many solutions to help Ypsilanti and the people in the area.
Bullips said that a wide variety of people from the community use the pantry.
“In our pantry, we’ve seen families, senior citizens, homeowners who don’t have money to provide, or need this extra bridge of food," Bullips said. "The diversity of people we’ve seen from ages to family sizes has been just wonderful. There hasn’t been one specific type."
Currently, Peace Neighbordhood Center receives food from Food Gatherers and does not have a system to receive food donations from the public.
Bullips said that donating food to Food Gatherers is the best option, since they have the infrastructure to sort through what they can send over or not.
