Saint Rest Food to Share
Location
Fresno
Sq. Ft.
6,800 + 4,000
Year Completed
2024
Construction Partner
Fresno Metro Ministry, St. Rest Baptist Church
The Saint Rest Food to Share Hub in Southwest Fresno is a catalytic project that demonstrates the power of partnership between like-minded non-profit organizations. Southwest Fresno is considered a food desert, and Saint Rest Baptist Church operated a weekly food distribution ministry to neighbors in need. Fresno Metro Ministry, a local nonprofit headed by Keith Bergthold, operates an innovative food recovery distribution program and started delivering food to Saint Rest in late 2016 to support their food ministry. The partnership pursued and was awarded a $1.5M Transformative Climate Community (TCC) grant, founded on a shared vision for a facility that would serve the operational needs and missional goals of both organizations. Through the efforts of Fresno Metro Ministry and the Central Valley Regional Foundation, additional funds were raised for the construction of the $6.3M facility.
The Saint Rest Food to Share ministry operated from a former meat packing plant, a building on their site that had fallen into disrepair. Rather than demolishing the concrete block structure, a more sustainable approach was adopted that involved renovation and adaptive reuse. Phase One involved transforming the existing building into a state-of-the-art warehouse with cold storage, office space, and a functional loading dock.
Phase Two involved the construction of a new 4,000-square-foot, two-story building with offices and community support spaces on the ground floor, and a commercial-grade teaching kitchen and balcony on the second floor. The balcony creates a space that brings life to Elm Street and is envisioned as a place where those attending cooking classes can adjourn for a meal and engage with the street life outside. These buildings function together to serve the West Fresno community and contribute to a new vision for the Elm Avenue Corridor.
In supporting the goal of sustainability, 15 new trees were planted, and locally sourced, light-colored asphalt was used to mitigate the heat island effect. The .46-acre site is now home to the renovated warehouse which stores fresh, healthy food meant for distribution to the Valley’s neediest, the new two-story Healthy Communities Building, shade structures, accessible parking, a landscaped picnic area, and space for truck maneuvering and a loading dock for tractor-trailers. This project provides much-needed services and stands as a beacon in the community for reuse and resource conservation.
