Luis Chavez speaks at the news conference Monday to announce a $700,000 grant for Cultiva La Salud to develop a commercial kitchen. Behind Chavez (from left): Miguel Arias, Ashley Swearengin, Genoveva Islas and Maria De Leon. Photo by Ben Hensley

A vote scheduled for this Thursday’s Fresno City Council may help pave the way for major improvements for mobile food vendors in the city.

The $700,000 grant from the city will help pave the way for a new commercial kitchen in Fresno at 620 N. Fresno St., as well as educational services. The support is aimed at mobile food vendors, many of whom face language and education barriers. The new center will offer services to help keep mobile food vendors safe and operational.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said that the commitment of $700,000, approved in this year’s budget, represents continued investments in mobile food vendor safety following the murder of Lorenzo Perez, a mobile food vendor who was gunned down in broad daylight in 2021.

Arias went on to add that the violence and harassment of many food vendors in the area is worsened by the community’s hesitance to seek help for fear they could get in trouble.

“We continue to ensure that the vendors of today and tomorrow don’t suffer the consequences and travesty of the vendors from yesterday,” he said. “Our commitment as a city has been to treat mobile food vendors as we would any small business.”

City Councilmember Luis Chavez said that after the 2021 shooting, the city sat down with the representatives from the mobile food vendor community to discuss a plan of action.

Chavez said the community sought a partnership with the city, which led directly to California’s first Mobile Food Vendor Association, creating a partnership with the city and pivoting from prosecuting many of the one-off or code violation fines to partnering with the community in educating vendors to avoid future infractions.

“Out of the tragedy, out of something that was so detrimental to our community, surged something that’s so inspirational,” he said. “When we first started, a lot of our folks felt like they lived in the shadows…Now they actually feel like they’re partners.”

Central Valley Community Foundation (CVFC) President and CEO Ashley Swearengin said it was only a few years ago when Cultiva La Salud Executive Director Genoveva Islas reached out to promote the nonprofit organization.

“Here we are two and a half years later seeing this vision come to pass,” Swearengin said. “Should the City make the commitment on Thursday to step forward with this grant, it’s a big deal.”

Islas added that despite strong financial backing, the project still has a ways to go before it is fully funded. The existing building will be torn down to make way for a two-story building that will house the education center and commercial kitchen. The project, which will cost a total of approximately $3 million, is about halfway funded.

Islas said that once the grant is voted on in Thursday’s meeting, the process can begin.

“As soon as that contract is signed they [developers] can start with the permitting,” she said, estimating the demolition of the current space to begin late this year or early next year, with the facility hoping to open as soon as possible afterward.

Initial investments in the project came through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, with the last $700,000 included in this year’s annual budget, which was approved in June.