The Grand Re-Opening community event featured a walking meditation, recognitions of market staff and community members, drum performances, and lunch provided by Skid Row People’s Market and community members to highlight the food that will be available. Supporting the leadership of storeowners like Danny and transforming neighborhood corner stores into healthy food markets with fresh produce and packaged foods is an important way to address food insecurity,” said Alba Velasquez, HNMN Program Director at the Los Angeles Food Policy Council “Lack of access to adequate food storage and cooking facilities are major barriers to healthy eating for people experiencing homelessness. The Skid Row community does face challenges in terms of food access and health. I believe that’s how we will make change and we can do it by organizing around food.” The message that day was ‘stronger together.’ The strength of a movement is in the strength of it’s relationships. I volunteered at the Grand-Reopening of Hank’s Mini Market in South Los Angeles” Park said, referencing another HNMN store transformation project, “and saw how everyone came together around this one store. “The Healthy Neighborhood Market Network collaborates with community to create new opportunities for access. In October 2018, Danny joined the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network as a way to further this mission to bridge resources and community. Two years later, he launched Skid Row Coffee Company, a cafe and deli with a job training program for community members designed to provide work and fresh meals for his neighbors who are without access to kitchen and pantry spaces.
Three years ago, Danny returned to Los Angeles to co-manage Best Market full-time with Mrs. Access to food is a human right and all people should have access to healthy food options and clean running water where they reside," said Park. “Unless you have access to capital to exchange for resources, you are kind of out of luck. His experience in a multinational corporation set against his life at a family-owned community market was unsettling for Park. He returned to Los Angeles every month to help out at his family’s market. Park attended Arts Center College of Design and later went to work for Nike Innovation as a designer in Portland, Oregon. There’s frustration that comes while addressing these severe inequities, and a helplessness one can feel,” said Park.
California has the fifth largest economy in the world. If you walk around Downtown LA, you’ll see plenty of resources. It’s been a personal journey of mine to figure out why this is happening and why basic needs are not being met. Danny Park explained that her “sun-shining” spirit is the source of inspiration for the store’s new logo, a sunflower encircled by the name Skid Row People’s Market, designed by Danny.ĭanny, who grew up in his family’s store, recalls the disconnect he experienced as a young adult learning from the media about “Skid Row,” considered the “homelessness capital of America.” “Skid Row is misrepresented. Park “Momma,” a reflection of the relationship between the Park family and residents of Skid Row. For 24-years, the Parks have been rooted in the Skid Row community, providing basic goods and services for the neighborhood while witnessing first-hand the increasing population, gentrification, and criminalization of people who are unhoused right outside the store doors. Skid Row People’s Market, formerly Best Market, is a historic Korean-American-owned neighborhood market that has been operating since 1997. Partners supporting the Park family on the project include LA Community Action Network, Studio 526, Urban Voices, LA Poverty Department, Stop LAPD Spying, Row Church without Walls, Eayikes, and Arts Center College of Design, who have supported in re-imagining and preparing the store for the transformation. The store underwent a full-scale transformation, temporarily closing its doors on December 31st for renovations, including new flooring, refrigeration and freezer units, interior and exterior paint, a remodeled retail counter space, deli bar, and re-branded with a new name and logo. Park, who has co-managed the market with his mother May Park for the past three years, partnered with the Los Angeles Food Policy Council through the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network (HNMN) program with the goal of transitioning the business to focus on healthy food. His activism inspired his desire to use his family’s market for an even greater purpose. As small business owner, Danny Park is deeply involved in the life of the Skid Row neighborhood, advocating for rights to housing, food and work opportunities.