The South Dallas Cloud Kitchen opened Friday, Aug. 25, 2023 to help food entrepreneurs in the low-income Forest District earn money from the products they cook.
People in the neighborhood who want to prepare food and sell it to consumers but don’t have the resources can now rent the kitchen for a few hours at a low price.
“A lot of our entrepreneurs have food-related businesses, small businesses, but many of them operate illegally because they don’t do it in a certified commercial kitchen space,” Chris Simmons, pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church, told The Dallas Morning News. “So ... we think it will provide employment opportunities for the neighborhood.”
The new commercial kitchen, located at the corner of S. Ervay St. and South Blvd., is near the Southpoint Community Market and the 2021 MLK Food Park.
The kitchen is part of the Dallas Catalyst Project (DCP) — a place-based initiative launched by The Real Estate Council and its philanthropic arm, TREC Community Investors (TREC CI) in 2017 in South Dallas’ historic Forest District. As part of its efforts in neighborhood revitalization for DCP, TREC CI partners with anchor community organizations, including Cornerstone Baptist Church, Forest Forward, and St. Phillip’s School and Community Center.
Through DCP, a $3 million investment is being made to support the neighborhood. Before the kitchen, the Southpoint market opened in 2021, offering low-cost grocery options. The cloud kitchen will serve as a boost for more people to have a steady income.
“They can Uber Eats their products out or DoorDash them, they can get contracts with the state to do after-school food programs, they can bake pies and mail them out, they can make products and sell them here at the [community] market,” Simmons said.
Cornerstone Baptist Church will manage South Dallas Cloud Kitchen. The space is fully licensed, and those renting it for a few hours will not have to worry about health inspections, equipment repairs, or insurance and will only be responsible for food handling certificates.
Felicia Pierson, senior director of Community Investment at TREC CI, explained that this DCP project is one of 22 being completed in the Forest District.
“The way these projects are chosen is that the neighborhood organizations tell us what the need is, we don’t tell the organizations what to do,” Pierson said. “They tell us what the vision is.”
The South Dallas Cloud Kitchen opened Aug. 25, 2023 at 2839 S. Ervay St. in The Crossing. People who want to participate in the kitchen can visit Cornerstone Baptist Church, 1819 Martin L. King Jr. Blvd.
