Dreaming Out Loud Is Bringing Locally Sourced Produce to Ward 8 with a $10 Million Capital Campaign for a Grocery Store

Washington, DC, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dreaming Out Loud (DOL) is launching its capital campaign dedicated to the opening of a full-service grocery store in Ward 8. Since December 2008, DOL has provided resources and support to improve access to healthy food within the DC metro region. Moving along

its growth trajectory, DOL is embarking on an effort to raise the remaining $5 million that we need to open this critical space. Proceeds from the campaign will be channeled towards revitalizing Anacostia with healthy and affordable food options that are sourced from local farmers and food producers. 

This market will create jobs in a part of Washington, D.C. that deserves more economic opportunities. DOL continues to build on its story of economic advancement for the DC metro region’s forgotten communities by creating a healthy, sustainable food system that is within reach for all residents of this city. The market’s namesake, the late Mayor Marion Barry, began his career to create opportunities for generational wealth that DC residents still feel the benefits of to this day. DOL’s work in the community aims to stand on that history and create more growth East of the River for generations to come.

With 33% of DC residents experiencing critically low food security and staggering health and economic disparities, DOL is championing change in a major way by focusing on food solutions in the hardest-hit parts of the city. According to DCIst Voices of Wards 7 and 8, “There’s just one full-service grocery store serving tens of thousands of residents in Ward 8, east of the Anacostia River”.

“Individuals and families, especially those impacted by poverty, health disparities, and limited transportation often struggle with access to affordable and healthy food options. DOL has implemented measures to address food insecurity head-on. Our capital campaign will scale our operations, infrastructure, network of farmers, provide critical resources for nutrition incentives, and collaborative relationships with the community and local organizations to help more people.”, states DOL founder Christopher Bradshaw.

Stop by to order carry-out from us starting May 23rd, Mon-Fri from 7 am-7 pm, Sat 9 am-7 pm at 1303 Marion Barry Ave. SE, Washington, D.C., 20020 to celebrate the opening of our market. Enjoy food made with ingredients from our network of farmers, DREAM Program graduates, and more. Residents who order groceries from our online store will also be able to pick up their Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) orders at our market every Friday and Saturday during the aforementioned hours of operation. 

You’ll be able to learn more about the space as we update the public on our progress at dreamingoutloud.org/marion-barry-avenue-market.

Support DOL in the creation of a full-service grocery store in Ward 8, visit the donation page linked here to give a gift of any size. Your investment will help create long-lasting change. 

For media interested in covering the progress, please contact Nardos Alemayehu at nardos@dreamingoutloud.org or Jaren Hill-Lockridge at jaren@dreamingoutloud.org to schedule a tour of the space.

About Dreaming Out Loud

DOL is rebuilding urban, community-based food systems through cooperative social enterprise. This entails increasing access to healthy food, improving community health, supporting entrepreneurs and cooperatives from low-income communities; and creating opportunities for at-risk residents to earn sustainable, family-supporting wages and build wealth. We believe that all communities deserve equal access to fresh, healthy food choices, but that achieving this requires moving beyond the “access” paradigm, to a focus on community self-determination and food sovereignty. As a result, we are working to create an integrated pipeline to jobs, economic opportunity, and community wealth-building for our most marginalized communities, by utilizing the food system as the main catalyst.

Visit www.dreamingoutloud.org to find out additional information on how to be a member of the team. 

For additional information, follow Dreaming Out Loud on Facebook and Instagram.