For nearly four years, a newly constructed building sat empty in the Mexicantown Mercado, located in southwest Detroit—its purpose undecided.

In 2012, Ford claimed the building and promised to put 10 million dollars into it in an effort to assist the Mexicantown community by providing a variety of services inside the building.

“The vision for our facility was to save a building that was not being utilized properly in an effort to help revitalize the community residents and their businesses in the surrounding area,” said Michelle Angiano, the administrative assistant at the Ford Resource and Engagement Center.

The FREC opened in 2013 and has since provided the surrounding community of southwest Detroit—48209, 48210 and 48216 zip codes—with over 1.5 million pounds of food and numerous other forms of assistance.

The FREC is sponsored by both Ford Motor Company and Gleaners Community Food Bank and provides services from many other organizations including the Accounting Aid Society (AAS), SER (Service Employment Redevelopment) Metro Detroit, Living Arts, Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development (LA SED), among many others.

“What we contribute here at the FREC is [pulling] all of those partners together, all of those agencies together, and provide resources in one spot,” Angiano said. “There’s always somebody in need and a lot of times they don’t know where to go, being able to have that one place to go for various resources is more helpful than sending them on a scavenger hunt per say.”

The Gleaners Food Bank is the main contributing factor in attracting most people into the FREC building, but visitors often leave aware of many more services and classes that they have access to.

“We have wrap-around services,” said Carmen Mattia, the senior executive director. “And by wrap-around services, I mean that we are able to bring in a client that might need help with food assistance, but in the process of getting that help, they will also learn that in the same place, they can get assistance with attorneys, they can enroll into classes like GED, English classes, Spanish classes, computer classes, there’s art, there’s dance in the building.”
Recently, Gleaners began “Cooking Matters,” a six week program to help people who use the food pantry learn how to cook healthy and utilize all of the produce and healthy ingredients that the food pantry provides. In addition to “Cooking Matters,” the FREC hosts health fairs targeted to attract different age groups including families, students and adults.

The facility holds events for youth and families different times of the year. On Halloween, families are welcomed inside the building for events activities. In the summer, the FREC holds a summer concert series that includes youth performances with various partners like Detroit Jazz to encourage children to get involved in music and other talents.

Since the facility opened, much of the surrounding community has benefitted from its services, whether from a Spanish/English class or receiving a high school diploma through the GED program. The FREC has brought hope to those living in southwest Detroit by making the process of receiving assistance and finding classes much easier.

“I believe that the FREC and the array of services it provides offers a sense of empowerment and hope for a better tomorrow to the many residents in this surrounding area who face many struggles of life,” Angiano said. “The services to help with various struggles include yet not limited to education completion for adults, food assistance program, job search, recreational courses for children, income tax and legal issues.”