After years of operating in an unused, deteriorating church, the Pilsen Food Pantry has finally found a permanent home, with plans to offer more than just food.
The pantry has operated out of the former Holy Trinity Croatian church at 19th and Throop streets since 2020. They became the biggest pantry in the area, handling up to 25,000 pounds of food per week.
But they don’t own that building, so it made little sense to spend money on major renovations. That made it difficult to expand programs, improve food storage or make the space more accessible to people with disabilities.
That’s all going to change.
The Figueroa Family Foundation, which runs the pantry, recently announced it has purchased a two-story, 5,600-square-foot building near 21st Place and Ashland Avenue for about $500,000. The building used to house a YMCA, said Dr. Evelyn Figueroa, pantry director.
Though the new space is smaller, owning it means being able to make whatever changes they want, Figueroa said. Now, the pantry is raising money to make improvements to the new space, and expects to be able to move into their new home by summer.
“We can do a lot more renovation projects and not have to worry about investing money in something we would have to walk away from at some point,” said Steve Wiley, the pantry manager.
The new space has other advantages, including free street parking and proximity to the CTA — the Pink Line is about five blocks away, and the Cermak Road bus, a block to the south, runs into Chinatown, where many pantry clients come from.
Figueroa said staff will miss some things about the old site, which had a garden and murals.
“It’s very sad to lose all that, but you have to think about what are the most important things and the long game,” Figueroa said.
In addition to continuing the pantry’s food operations, Figueroa said they will also bring along the pantry’s library, medical supply closet and clothing closet.
They plan to build out the new space with a rooftop garden, a space to process Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program applications, stage home renovations and a kitchen for cooking classes similar to those offered before on Throop.
Wiley also anticipates the group adding some walk-in freezers for properly storing food. And he’s open to other improvements, such as improved insulation and access to bathrooms — anything, he said, “that would make it a better place for the clients or staff.”
Michael Loria is a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.
