Community Destination Tomorrow opens their first food pantry in Atlanta

BY ISAIAH SINGLETON

In partnership with the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Destination Tomorrow recently launched their first food pantry in Buckhead.

Access to fresh and healthy foods is essential to the health and wellness of communities, and food scarcity/food deserts are huge issues across the U.S., especially for low-income Black and Brown communities.

The pantry is stocked with fresh fruits, vegetables, canned goods, meats, and more. The food bank is widely available to community members around the Destination Tomorrow center.

Destination Tomorrow is an LGBTQ+ center based in New York and opened its doors to the Atlanta community in May 2022. Known for providing crucial services including healthcare, career readiness, financial literacy, Destination Tomorrow headed south to expand access to underserved communities in a city with a large LGBTQ+ population of color.

Alex Santiago, chief operating officer of the Atlanta Destination Tomorrow location, said he is excited to be able to provide services for Black and Queer people in Atlanta.

“I’m excited but it’s crazy that we even have to do it, because I feel like in this country, we treat animals better than we treat human beings and no human should ever walk the street hungry. So, for us to be able to provide this service, I’m happy about it,” he said.

He also said although they aren’t the first food bank to open in Atlanta, they are the first food bank to focus on the LGBTQ+ community.

Destination Tomorrow, Santiago also said, believes everybody deserves to have access to a space where they can grow, learn, and flourish, regardless of their sexual identity or gender expression and without having to leave their own neighborhood.

“We’ll feed anyone, but I think our community is underserved in a lot of areas so that’s why we thought it was necessary to create something just for us,” he said.

Santiago, also an Atlanta-native, said he had known and been a part of the community of feeding the homeless all his life.

“In doing that, we recognized there’s not one place for our community that they feel safe going to. We took the model from New York based on community needs here and decided it was needed,” he said.

Additionally, Santiago said the importance in giving back to both LGBTQ+ and

Black/Brown communities is crucial.

“We must look out for ourselves, and we are definitely a ‘for us, by us’ model,” he said. “Black people, historically, have always paved the way for other Black people. Never have been able to depend on other races to do it for us and I don’t think we expected it, I think it’s something as Black people, back from slavery, we instilled in our character and DNA to help each other.”

Although he is happy to give back, Santiago said there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“Unfortunately, it’s not where it needs to be because if it were, I don’t think we’d have homeless and food insecurity problems that we have, but it’s engraved in us to take care of our own first,” he said.

The food pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, however Santiago said they are at the center 24/7.

“If someone calls and needs something, we will never turn anyone down. Even though we have published hours for two days a week, we’re available 24/7,” he said.

Other than food, the organization offers clothing, personal hygiene products, and more.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank allows

Destination Tomorrow to pick what items they can choose from, however, Santiago said if they see there’s a need the food bank doesn’t provide, they will get it on their own.

Additionally, Santiago said the organization in Atlanta have a lot planned for the year including the opening of a homeless shelter for Transgender men opening later this month.

“We have a lot of things planned for the year. We’re about to open a Trans house for Trans men, which is unheard of,” he said. “We felt we really needed to do this because with homeless shelters, you either have female shelters or male shelters, where do Trans people fit in that? There’s a Trans house for women that another organization started, but there was still nothing for the guys.” v

The center is located at 1419 Mayson St NE, Atlanta. For more information, visit https:// destinationtomorrow.org.