Funded by the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA) as a result of Ordinance 102-21, the District 10 Community Market located at 5030 Third Street in San Francisco is a brand new 4,000 square-foot, grocery market that offers food insecure residents in the southeast corridor a wide selection of free groceries. The market also operates as a community connector of services for low-income families. The Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services is the sole operator of the market.

Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the free grocery store model was designed to mirror two very popular charity based stores that were operating in two other major cities: Santa Barbara’s Unity Shoppe and Nashville’s The Store.  Supervisor Ahsha Safai spearheaded San Francisco’s legislation to create the Food Empowerment Market and Supervisor Shamann Walton co-sponsored the legislation. On July 20, 2021, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed three food insecure related legislations, Food Empowerment Market Fund, the Biennial Food Security and Equity Report, and Food Security Task Force Reauthorization and Sunset Date Extension.  Mayor Breed signed all three legislations into law and has been championing these concepts since then and working tirelessly to bring them into fruition with Human Services Agency.

The Market is located in the Bayview Hunters Point community of District 10. This neighborhood was selected due to the high needs in this part of the City. District 10 includes neighborhoods classified by the United States Department of Agriculture as food deserts, or areas that lack reliable access to grocery stores and food resources. In addition, 94124 is one of the lowest income neighborhoods in San Francisco.

In April 2022, Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services (also known as Bayview Senior Services) won the solicitation to create the first ever food empowerment market location. Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates, who were already championing food sovereignty for District 10 were invaluable partners in helping garner community support and funding for the market.

In September of 2022 a lease was signed for 5030 Third Street and in February of 2023, MWH Webcor stepped up to lead the construction. MWH Webcor donated funds, labor and worked with subcontractors to donate time and labor to lower prices to make the District 10 Community Market a reality.

While waiting for permits and construction to finish, Bayview Senior Services was determined to distribute food in the community and to onboard clients, so in November 2022, Maggie Shugerman was hired, and she became the Market’s Director and brought her enthusiasm and experience in food recovery to develop the program and create a weekly market distribution. Geoffrea Morris continues to provide consultation to ensure the Market reflects its original intention.

Through a group of ever-growing referral partners, 380 families were onboarded as the market’s original participants. While waiting on the market to open, these families received food from a temporary weekly pop up Market held at the Dr. George Davis Senior Center, the headquarters of Bayview Senior Services.

A dedicated group of volunteers and staff from Bayview Senior Services began crafting and creating an experience with the families being serviced that exemplified the spirit of the legislation regarding choice and dignity. Lucky’s Bayview, Grocery Outlet Bayshore, SF Food Bank and the SF Produce Market became the inaugural partners to the market. The organizations and businesses continue to provide free to low cost donations and groceries to the market today.