Driven by the vision of Cliff Edwards, CEO, and their
mission to improve the health of the community beyond the walls of the health
center, Center Street Health Center wanted to help address the ongoing issue of
food insecurity in Marion, Ohio. They made the commitment to eliminate a
downtown Marion food desert.
Over two years ago, Tim Petee, director of regional
operations for Paramount Advantage, learned of Cliff’s aspirations to open a
grocery store and quickly jumped on the opportunity to help. Center Street
Health Center had already purchased property across the street in downtown
Marion. Paramount Advantage helped to identify this area as a food desert,
which allowed Center Street Health Center to secure funding for establishing
their food market. In addition, Paramount Advantage connected Center Street
Health Center with ProMedica’s Market on the Green.
ProMedica, Paramount’s parent organization, opened their
Market on the Green grocery store in UpTown Toledo in 2015. After years of work
addressing food insecurity in the community and patient-care settings,
ProMedica identified a need to fill a void in the UpTown Toledo neighborhood, a
disadvantaged community with poor health outcomes which lacked access to a
grocery store for years.
During planning of the Marion grocery store, Center Street
Community Health Center leadership and board members visited ProMedica’s Market
on the Green to get ideas for their store. The visit led to a consulting
engagement with ProMedica to provide support for the opening of Center Street’s
store. Over the course of 12 months, ProMedica provided advisory support on the
project which included business plan and operating model development, store
layout, vendor selection, merchandising, and staff training.
Through this effort, Paramount Advantage was honored to
cover all Market on the Green consultative expenses incurred by Center Street
Community Health Center.
Center Street Corner Market opened to serve the Marion
community on November 6, 2020 offering fresh produce, meat, dairy, grocery and
a variety of basic household items.
Read the complete story by visiting ProMedica’s
newsroom.
