Nourish Up Foundation is a nonprofit in Charlotte, N.C., providing comprehensive food services for residents facing food insecurity throughout Mecklenburg County. As North Carolina’s largest network of food pantries, it supported 172,000 grocery distributions in 2024, while also delivering more than 144,000 medically tailored meals to homebound individuals some with chronic health conditions. It’s 37-person staff works with 4,000 volunteers to deliver its services.

Nourish Up embarked on a $30.7 million project to build out a former retail warehouse into Hunger Hub, a 90,000-square-foot facility to house food distribution services and a commercial kitchen, while also providing space for partner nonprofits and Nourish Up’s staff and volunteers. The project revitalizes a shuttered property in a distressed census tract, with upgrades that include a new roof with solar panels, millwork, HVAC and essential equipment, such as walk-in freezers and food prep stations. The project triples the space available for Nourish Up food services.

Broadstreet committed $7 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocation from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to the effort. The Thriving Communities Fund, capitalized by TD Bank and managed by Broadstreet, is the investor. The fund provides affordable capital to projects that might not otherwise be able to move forward, focusing particularly on commercial renovation projects that restore and return shuttered facilities to productive use.

The NMTC financing is expected to help Nourish Up serve an estimated 200,000 annually with groceries, providing 2,500 Meals on Wheels daily—a five-fold increase over current levels. It enables the organization to repay existing debt, so it can invest more in food distribution programs. Without the NMTC investment, it would have needed conventional debt, which is unaffordable given its lack of revenue streams.

Hunger Hub, which is creating 23 new full-time positions and 49 construction jobs, serves families with an average household income of $1,300/month, well below the federal poverty line, and nearly half of the beneficiaries are children or elderly.

Other support for the project includes NMTC allocations from Urban Action Community Development and CAHEC and fundraising from Nourish Up.