At their November meeting, the Invest Atlanta Board of Directors approved an Eastside TAD grant of up to $500,000 for the Jesse Hill Market. 

Developed in partnership with the Grady Health Foundation, Atlanta Community Food Bank, and Open Hand Atlanta, Jesse Hill Market will be a 7,000-square-foot comprehensive Food as Medicine facility at the entrance of Grady Health System’s campus on the vacant former site of a fast food restaurant.

The facility will house a “food pharmacy” with fresh produce, where food insecure patients with diet-related illness can redeem food prescriptions for their entire family, free of charge. A teaching kitchen will educate patients and employees on preparing healthy meals through hands-on classes and cooking demonstrations. Onsite nutrition services will ensure that patients are screened and directed to resources to assist with food access.

Open Hand, a thirty-year-old non-profit recognized as one of the largest community-based providers of home-delivered meals and nutrition services in the county, will operate a healthy cafe offering affordable, pre-packed Good Measure Meals for purchase by the public in addition to an onsite farmer’s market stand.

Nearly one in two deaths caused by heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes are associated with poor diet. Recent medical studies have concluded that diet and exercise are more effective than medicine at preventing diabetes. When Grady began surveying their patients in 2016, they found that 45% of inpatients and more than 50% of ambulatory patients experience food insecurity. 

Grady’s partnership with Atlanta Community Food Bank and Open Hand is an innovative solution to address pervasive food insecurity, improve access to healthy foods, and ultimately drive better health outcomes.