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Pantry in Joliet, Illinois Readies for Community Kitchen
- Bob Heuer
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Growing food locally: “Best solution of all”
Bob Heuer of HNA Networks is a longtime advocate for resilient and sustainable local food systems. He writes frequently for Local Food Forum on related topics.
Twenty-four-year-old David Lozano started working last year for River Walk Homes Food Pantry in Joliet, Illinois — the state’s fourth most populous city, located about an hour's drive southwest of downtown Chicago. The pantry was then distributing free food to maybe 100 to 150 families.
Ten months later, he figures the once-a-week offering is drawing 250 families. River Walk on December 18 collaborated with Joliet Township and Northern Illinois Food Bank to give away 50 holiday hams. All the hams were gone within the first hour.
The regional food bank — one of eight Feeding Illinois affiliates statewide —supplies River Walk with heavily discounted products. Donations from area groceries also help the organization's food access efforts.
As the River Walk “acquisition" guy, Lozano responds to every grocer who calls with products that are reaching their expiration dates. Regular donors include a Jewel store, a Tony’s and a Dollar General. He’ll often drive 13 miles south to Minooka or more than 20 miles northwest to Aurora.
One problem Lozano faces is not knowing what will be available when. Lozano has begun to network with all the area food pantries. He says the idea is “if I’m low, someone else may have extra, or we could trade.”
The trouble is, pantries often compete for scarce grant dollars and limited donations.
Community Kitchen is in the Works
Lozano’s vision for greater pantry cooperation may emerge in coming months once River Walk opens a 220- square-foot commercial-grade community kitchen. Plans include nutrition education and hands-on cooking classes. There will be a once-a-week soup kitchen, recipe of the week, and food-based entrepreneurial opportunities.
Area farmers and other community members could help meet the pantry patrons’ desire for fresh produce and eggs, Lozano says, describing local food as the “best solution of all.” He saw the potential last summer and fall when a fellow staffer managed a vegetable garden. More equipment, fencing and staff are needed, though, to increase production.
Another way to reduce the strain on pantries would be through municipal ordinances allowing people to harvest chickens and eggs. Backyard chicken farming is currently prohibited in the city of Joliet, Lozano says, noting that other Will County municipalities have worked through permitting, zoning and sanitation issues.
Meanwhile, growers in unincorporated Will County can take advantage of a new state law allowing on-farm processing of up to 7,500 birds a year. The measure aims to reduce the bottlenecks and delays that small farms face due to insufficient capacity at commercial processing facilities.
“We never have enough fresh eggs,” Lozano says. “An egg-bearing bird will produce a huge amount of eggs. After the upfront cost, you’d have a steady supply of eggs coming in. Fresh eggs could be a real game changer.”
Lining Up for Assistance
Thursday, December 4, 2:30 p.m. The pantry opens in a half hour.
River Walk Homes Food Pantry occupies a one-story structure built into a hillside overlooking the Des Plaines River and downtown Joliet.
The pantry is owned and operated by Holsten Human Capital Development. The non-profit arm of Chicago-based Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation, Holsten Human Capital also operates a 177-unit affordable housing rental complex next to the pantry.
A line has formed outside the pantry along the sloped sidewalk. There are whites, blacks, Latinos and Asians. Old people and a young mother with small children.
Two men are on break from a nearby painting job. One names the various pantry locations, the days and the various requirements to secure free food. The other shrugs and says: “Better than nothing.”
A wheelchair accessible ramp leads to the pantry’s front door. Inside to the left volunteers are filling shelves with food. A hallway leads around back to a storage room and office.
Lozano stands amid rows of carts stacked with products provided by the regional food bank. On one side is a large freezer filled with products. Nearby is a locked door to the soon-to-open community kitchen. Paper covers the windows pending county approvals.
Next Generation Leadership
The community kitchen will be a new asset for this Joliet neighborhood. Maximizing its impact is a job for frontline workers like David Lozano. Meanwhile, all levels of government are bracing for changes in federal government-funded food safety net programs.
Feeding Illinois estimates that the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nine meals to every one provided by a pantry such as River Walk. The Aurora Beacon-News reported last summer that the new SNAP work requirement enacted in a massive law enacted last July could cause 360,000 Illinoisans to lose benefits. According to this report by the Chicago Sun-Times, the State of Illinois will be on the hook for an expected loss of $877 million a year in federal SNAP benefits starting in October 2027.
That means people such as David Lozano have 21 months to prepare for this massive challenge. The Joliet native has a two-year Association of Arts degree from Joliet Community College. His experience as student rep on the college’s board of trustees piqued an interest in public service. In November 2024, he fell 300 votes short of getting elected to the Will County Board. He had better luck last spring when he won election as Plainfield Township Clerk.
Lozano’s term runs through May 2029, a three-and-a-half year window to reimagine how Illinois townships fulfill their mandatory function to “administer a general assistance program to qualifying residents.” Townships are front-line service providers in food pantry world. SNAP, for example, is the outgrowth of a federal “food stamp program” established in 1939.
“When the federal government fails us, we’re left with each other,” Lozano says.
Community Food Infrastructure Investment
River Walk’s new kitchen was financed from a pool of nearly $800,000 in Will County funds supporting four initiatives. This community food spend represents a sliver of the $134 million that was made available to Will County in 2023 through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. Authorized to help local governments recover from the impact of COVID-19, the federal money was deployed by the Will County Board.
The need was brought to the attention of elected county officials through Will County’s public health planning process — aka the MAPP Collaborative. Launched in 2011, MAPP stands for Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships. Will County’s MAPP Collaborative convenes area hospitals, social service agencies and food pantries through an organizing framework established by the National Association of City and County Health Officials. (NACCHO is a spinoff from the National Association of Counties.)
In 2022, Will County MAPP “Access to Food and Nutrition” team issued a “Community Health Assessment” that surfaced the need to invest in high food-insecure neighborhoods. According to Caitlin Daly, MAPP/Community Planning program manager, the Will County Board approved a collaborative ARPA grant administered by fiscal sponsor United Way of Will County, with MAPP functioning as grant manager. The four sub-recipients did the following:
Holsten Human Capital Development launched the commercial-grade River Walk community kitchen project
Salvation Army of Joliet increased food bank orders
National Hook-Up of Black Women/Joliet Chapter obtained new refrigeration units and a delivery van
New Hope Christian Community Church planned its own commercial-grade community kitchen, community garden expansion and infrastructure improvements to improve pantry access
Build It and They Will Cook
David Lozano lives and works in western Will County. He first learned of the New Hope Christian Community Church in the eastern Will County village of Monee during the reporting process for this Local Food Forum article. His 2026 work plan for River Walk now includes exploring potential collaboration between two community kitchens at opposite ends of the county.
On December 4, as we are talking in the pantry storage area, a hallway door opens. Pushing an empty grocery cart is a volunteer named Pam Frazier. Pam is a City of Joliet-born mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She has a food handler license. And works as a dishwasher.
She and Lozano fill the cart with rock-hard processed meats from the freezer.
“I’m a cook,” Frazier says. "I cook soul food. For starters, I see us cooking a meal for 30-50 people. There’s lots of potential here with canned goods and with the peppers and onions. As long as I have cut vegetables I’m good to go," Frazier says.