A vacant building at 536 N. Westmoreland Drive in Orlando has been transformed into Parramore Market, a 5,000-square-foot micro-grocery store, community resource hub, and choice-based food pantry aimed at closing a stubborn gap in fresh food access in the heart of the city. The project grew directly out of weekly food lines that had swelled far beyond what organizers ever expected, forcing a shift from pop-up distributions to permanent neighborhood infrastructure.
The store is the work of The Desire Foundation Inc., a nonprofit founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by Executive Director Jennifer Desir Hilaire, who launched Project 814 to deliver meals, clothing, and essential resources to Central Florida families, according to WKMG. What began as modest weekly Friday food distributions in Parramore ballooned over time, expanding from serving 50 to 60 residents to accommodating roughly 400 people every week, with about 30,000 pounds of food given away at each event.
That surge in need is what convinced organizers that a folding table and a food line could no longer keep pace with the neighborhood’s demand. As WESH reports, board member David Akintonde discussed the new market with the station, describing it as offering more than just food for residents of Orlando’s historic Parramore district.
Public Grant and Private Design Firm Powered the Buildout
Turning a vacant building into a functioning grocery store required both public and private support. In June, the Parramore Market project received a $100,000 grant from OBT NEXT, an Orange County community redevelopment agency program, to cover building renovations, safety updates, and code compliance, the same WKMG report notes…