We are currently undergoing scheduled maintenance and will experience a short period of downtime in the next few hours. We appreciate you patience and understanding while we work to improve your Patronicity experience.
This campaign collected all funds raised on Nov 22, 2021 10:15 PM.
Chef Nezaa, or Mama Nezaa, as she is more often called, is a Jamaican chef and a Detroiter by choice. She has been committed to feeding her community and family a plant-based diet since the 80s. Since then, she has been sharing community food stories, curating them through Paradise Natural Foods.
The journey of Paradise Natural Foods is ready the next step. We are ecstatic to be a part of the socially-conscious Love Building and Campus developed by Allied Media Projects. Here, Mama Nezaa will continue to nourish the neighborhood and city through Paradise Deli and Marketplace. "The deli and marketplace will be a place rooted in community where people can come, explore, expand their knowledge of healthy food, get educated about eating healthy lifestyle, where we create opportunities for people to grow, where we create opportunities for people to come together, a space we call a third place which isn’t your home or your office, but somewhere that feels communal."
Unlike many developments coming to previously underserved areas, the Love Campus and Paradise Deli and Marketplace, are rooted in community. We have engaged the residents of the CORE CITY neighborhood, in every step of our proposed development. A community benefits agreement crafted by Allied Media, allows us to co-create a business model that is respectful of residents and brings value to a neighborhood that can mutually benefit from our business. The health of a community is greatly affected by access to healthy food and services that enhance the quality of life. In the process we have also planned the following:
Please join us in creating a healthy food hub that will serve Detroit and visitors to our city and create opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship that puts people and our planet first.
Your donation will assist us in making Paradise Deli and Marketplace a healthy food, lifestyle and education Third Place, and join the growing plant-forward businesses, making healthy food more accessible in Detroit. Among the many offerings, Paradise Natural Foods Deli and Marketplace will provide:
• Chef-curated, plant-forward meals
• A production kitchen to prepare grab and go and catering orders and offer a licensed space for other food makers
• A marketplace for small and large batch local and other manufacturers
• An owner operated coffee bar and juice bar
• A ghost kitchen for a collaboration with a gourmet pizza chef
• Your Wellness Journey lifestyle and nutrition classes
• Paradise Food and Deli will be an inclusive and welcoming safe-space
Businesses like Paradise Deli and Marketplace, in addition to being Black-owned, woman-owned, and immigrant-owned. will be an important part of our shared success in the city. Our timeline to fund the development underway is fast approaching. The project is set to be completed by Spring of 2022. Your generous donation will keep us on track.
Whether it's $1 or $1,000, your generous donation will ensure that we can complete this worthwhile project and settle into a community where our business will enhance the experience of residents. Join us with your monetary donations and spread the word throughout your networks and on social media.
If you prefer to give offline join us at a POP UP around the city or drop a check in the mail to PARADISE NATURAL FOODS 16840 LaSalle Ave. #1, Detroit, MI 48221.
Thank you for any support you can afford. Remember, giving at any level counts! Don't forget to use the Patronicity sharing tools under our title on this page!
If you have questions or inquiries please email us at info@paradisedetroit.com.
Hello everyone!
Due to a few challenges, our campaign had to go on a hiatus for a few weeks. We want to express so much gratitude to all the folks who have been checking in and reminding us to continue moving forward, as well as to Mahala from Patronicity who has been so helpful since the beginning.
We were overjoyed this week after we received our first “Supporter” and “Collaborator” donations. It is a big step forward and a reminder that this campaign will be successful. At the same time, we want to express so much gratitude to everyone who has contributed whatever they can. We truly value every contribution you’ve made. Each cent is getting us closer and closer to our goal!
In other news, we have something special happening in a few days. We’re looking forward to a beautiful fall day on the Keep Growing Detroit (KGD) Farm this Saturday for our Farm To Table Dinner. Keep Growing Detroit will provide much of the produce that we will transform into a 5-course meal, such as pumpkins, greens, tomatoes, herbs and more. Chef Nezaa’s thoughtfully prepared dinner will be a mashup of ultra local provisions, with the addition of items such as hibiscus from an organic farm in Egypt and other tropical items, that will help her to tell a similar global story of her birth in Jamaica, emigrating to Canada and eventually becoming a Detroiter by choice.
The goal and practice of Paradise Natural Foods is to form collaborations with urban farms and local, national, global food manufacturers to bring a curated array of healthy options that elevates the idea of plant based and nutritious cuisine. Food is the most elemental way to tell the story of who we are,and where we come from. Whether it is an individual's story or, the embodiment of an entire culture, each bite is an abridged version of our biography. It is not only a way to share who we are but to invite others into our lives, and encourage them to find or add to their own.
Chef Nezaa is an avid storyteller, and through the medium of food, she will welcome you into the world that created and influenced her culinary journey. We hope you will join us.