by Ebony L. Morman

It’s a couple days after New Year’s Day in 2017 and Kenya Joseph is spending time with her mom, Sandra Marks. The television is on and the women are intrigued: an episode of Extreme Couponing has their attention. On the screen, there’s a family, kids in tow, clipping coupons to help provide food for their neighbors. The family that’s in need includes a father, who lost a job, and his four kids. 

“Something just clicked at that moment,” Joseph says. “My mom and I looked at each other and we said, ‘We can do that’.”

But why just one family, they wondered, and if more, what would that look like?

The pair remained in front of the television, grappling with those questions. After considering various ways they could help, they decided a food pantry would fill the greatest need. There was a hitch, however. They had only one point of reference, a huge food bank that they’d donated to in Joseph’s hometown of New York City. They began researching what it takes to open and operate a food pantry. 

Within months and with the support of her mother, Joseph opened a food pantry—which would soon become known as Hearts & Hands Food Pantry — in a closet inside of the church they attend on Easter 2017. By Thanksgiving of that same year, the operation was outside of the church and in its own space. Hearts & Hands Food Pantry had nonprofit status, a plan, and a protocol, says Joseph. With the help of volunteers, the work began. 

That was about six years before Joseph, who also serves as the Charlotte Food Policy Council’s chairperson, stood on stage at the 2023 UPPY’s to express gratitude for receiving an award for Food Advocate of the Year. The recognition validated years of service to the greater Charlotte community, she says. 

“When I went to the awards ceremony, I saw who I was up against and I had zero expectation to win that award, absolutely zero,” Joseph says. “It was a huge surprise, and it’s also a friendly reminder that you don’t know how far your actions and your work can go. You don’t know how much is seen out in the world.” 

In the years since Joseph and her mom watched that episode on television, their efforts with the full-service food pantry have expanded to help more people who are experiencing food insecurity and food injustices. Until last October, the pantry’s home was a space in Huntersville that was the equivalent of an unfinished, 1,200-square-foot apartment. Today, operations are in a 7,500-square-foot warehouse in west Charlotte. It was made possible through private funding and grants. Joseph and her team have also been intentional and aggressive when engaging the community to raise awareness and host food drives, she says. Last year, Hearts & Hands received a large grant from American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) through Mecklenburg County, which helped them grow to where they are now. 

“We just grew and pulled all of our collective strengths together to really grow something that’s become a real service in this community,” she says. “It’s just been cool. Honestly, it’s been really great. It’s just completely organic.”

Freshlist, the farm share distributor for the region, provides fresh produce boxes each week, which the pantry distributes to a client network of more than 12,000 individuals throughout Mecklenburg County and in surrounding areas, such as Denver and Statesville. Between March 15 of last year and January 31 of this year, Hearts & Hands Food Pantry served more than 10,000 people. Prior to COVID-19, they served less than 2,000 individuals. A reason for the exponential growth is that the pantry remained open during the global pandemic, Joseph says. It also provided an opportunity for Joseph to leverage technology to increase efficiency. She re-coded their website so that clients could shop online, utilize curbside pickup, and schedule appointments. 

In 2021, a delivery service for pantry clients launched and in 2022, offerings expanded to include a mobile pantry. Through partnerships with local schools and churches, Hearts & Hands Food Pantry is increasing access in underserved communities. A new service involves a partnership between Mecklenburg County Public Health and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Food Policy Council. Clients can now access community refrigerators at three host organizations in North Mecklenburg Country—two in Cornelius and one in Huntersville. One of the sites is a low-cost medical clinic that helps support patients whose illnesses and health status is directly affected by their diets. After their appointments, they can go directly to the community fridge to shop lean meats and organic produce. 

Initially, fresh produce wasn’t a priority at Hearts & Hands, but Joseph listened to her clients and wanted to fill gaps that nonprofit counterparts left unfilled due to the difficulty of procuring and storing fresh goods. Through inquisition, she learned that her clients patronized pantries where they often felt devalued, could only receive support for a few months, and received boxes of expired food. 

“We took all of that feedback into account,” Joseph says. “From day one, we’ve always been a full-choice food pantry, which means clients can choose everything, we’re not giving them things we chose for them.”

Clients who walk the aisles at Hearts & Hands shop from food and personal items that are in original packaging and not expired. They have freedom to choose food that aligns with dietary restrictions, allergens, health restrictions, lifestyle choices, and even food for their pets.

When clients engage with volunteers and staff at Hearts & Hands Food Pantry, they learn that the interactions are not merely transactional. Whether it’s providing referrals for other services or sitting down with individuals to inquire about their circumstances, the goal is to get to the root of what’s happening in their lives, follow their progress to ensure they are able to, if possible, get out of their circumstances and support them along the way. 

“What’s unique about us is that we care,” Joseph says. “That comes, first and foremost, from our faith, it comes from our love of people, and it comes from the fact that we don’t want to just hand someone a box of food. We really want to minister to and help their complete person.”