Detroit — The farmers at Oakland Avenue Urban Farm are experts at growing fruits and vegetables that end up on dinner plates throughout the city and surrounding region, executive director Jerry Ann Hebron said.

But that isn’t enough to protect their North End neighbors from food insecurity.

“We already know we can grow food. We grow a lot of food. We grow good food,” Hebron said. “What’s next? How do we move this, move the needle? Because none of us can say we have food sovereignty.”

That’s why Oakland Avenue Urban Farm is embarking on an ambitious plan to redevelop a 9,000-square-foot vacant grocery store at the corner of Oakland Avenue and Westminster Street.

They want to turn the building into a community resilience center that will offer commercial kitchen space, community food storage, cooking classes, event space, housing and solar power. They hope their resilience center will be the first of many to be built at Detroit urban farms.

Hebron’s vision for Oakland Avenue is inspired by her childhood in the area. Oakland Avenue was a bustling commercial corridor in the 1950s and ’60s. Now, people have to leave the neighborhood to shop and run errands. She wants to see more businesses and resources return to the community.

“Being able to be a part of a major development on the corridor should send a signal to others to come and build their developments as well,” said Hebron, who also is executive director of Northend Christian CDC.

The same effect could take place in other parts of the city as Detroit farms build similar indoor food centers, Hebron said. Oakland Avenue Urban Farm is working with a network of Detroit farms, including Cadillac Urban Gardens, Feedom Freedom Farms and others, are pursuing plans to build a similar community resiliency spaces throughout the city.

“We realized we are just one community,” Hebron said. “What about all the others?”

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Northend Christian CDC was founded in 1999 by Hebron’s 94-year-old mother, Reverend Bertha L. Carter of St. John Evangelist Temple of Truth and School of Wisdom, the church adjacent to the grocery store that the organization plans to redevelop.

Carter and her congregation started Oakland Avenue Urban Farm in 2000. Northend CDC has renovated five houses around its farm and turned a sixth into an expansive chicken coop. They rent some of the homes to tenants and use others as gathering space.

Oakland Avenue Urban Farm grows fruits and vegetables on more than three acres, has three hoop houses and a greenhouse, runs a 4-H program, hosts a weekly summer farmer’s market and supplies produce to regional food banks. Farmers also readily give produce to people who pass by and show interest in a fresh tomato or bundle of greens, a neighborly practice they call “harvest by demand.”

On Wednesday, farmers were harvesting the last of their spring spinach crop.

The farm is inviting, with colorful murals, fragrant flowering trees, pergolas, picnic tables, fire pits and outlets powered by solar panels — an important feature during power outages and for neighbors who live off the grid, Hebron said.

Power outages are a big problem for people who rely on medical equipment or can’t afford to replace a refrigerator’s worth of food, Hebron said. In addition to solar-powered outdoor plugs, Oakland Avenue Farm has a refrigerator people can use to store food.

“We’ve got seniors, we have people who are diabetic, we’ve got people we know are on oxygen,” Hebron said. “How can we be a resource for them?”

Solar panels, backup generator planned for new center

That’s why Northend Christian CDC leaders plan to install solar panels on the roof of their future food and resilience center and will install backup generators so the building can help power the community during grid outages. The building also will offer space where people can store food during power outages, Hebron said.

Hebron is most excited about the commercial kitchen. Farmers can use it to make products like jams and tea blends, and the farm will partner with a local chef who will teach community cooking classes to show people how to turn farm-fresh produce into affordable, healthy and easy meals.

The kitchen also will serve farmers who want to expand their offerings with products like baked goods or canned goods.

“With all the challenges facing farmers nationwide right now, locally produced food is becoming even more essential,” Hebron said. “Detroit is already viewed as a global leader in urban agriculture, so we are excited to take this next leap to expand food security and sustainability for our community.”

Oakland Avenue Urban Farm received a grant from the McGregor Fund to start the initial work, the fund’s Director of Engagement and Communications Nikia Washington said in an email.

Construction should begin this summer and be finished in 2028, said Hebron. Oakland Avenue Urban Farm leaders need approval from city council for the site plans.

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ckthompson@detroitnews.com