Activating 970 Jefferson to Serve the Westside and Beyond

In 2019, Food Well Alliance and Westside Future Fund partnered to secure the warehouse and office space located at 970 Jefferson St. NW, former home of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Both organizations believed in the importance of saving this space that had played an integral role in serving the Westside community and beyond for so many years. They shared a vision for a facility that could be reactivated as an operations base for multiple organizations with like-minded missions.

When the building was purchased and a capital campaign to refurbish the entire facility was just getting underway, COVID became a reality. The partners regrouped and scaled back plans. The entire upstairs was renovated to provide increased office and meeting space, and the warehouse received improvements to make it operational. At the request of Westside Future Fund, Food Well Alliance has taken the lead on identifying tenants, negotiating lease agreements and managing the 970 facility, with the exception of the Westside Future Fund office area. Today, 19 nonprofits and local enterprises are utilizing 970 Jefferson for a portion or all their operations.

This report highlights the first-year efforts of this collaborative project.