Gaining Ground, a nonprofit neighborhood grocery store and food access organization, will begin demolition on Monday on its new home at 901 Dodds Ave. in the Ridgedale neighborhood. 

Officials said, "The milestone marks the start of construction for a long-awaited expansion, made possible by the generous support of several local foundations and individual donors. 

"Since opening in 2020, Gaining Ground converted a 500-square-foot church basement into a vital neighborhood resource, but demand has outgrown the store's current capacity.  The new location will roughly double the store's footprint, allowing Gaining Ground to stock more fresh, local food and expand its operating hours to better serve area residents." 

“We've watched this community show up for Gaining Ground year after year, and now we get to show up for them in a bigger way,” said Holly Martin, executive director of Gaining Ground.

“This renovation happens because local foundations and individual donors believed in what we're building here. We're grateful, and we're just getting started.” 

Beyond the grocery store itself, the new building will include a community meeting and education space, laying the groundwork for the next phases of Gaining Ground's vision: a teaching kitchen to expand hands-on nutrition education, and a Sustainable Building Fund that will allow Gaining Ground to pay down its mortgage and build financial reserves - freeing up more of its budget for community programming for years to come.