Charleston city council awarded the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition with $989,676 in American Rescue Plan funding to address food insecurity in the area. It’s estimated around 15% of WV households struggle with access to healthy foods. WCHS TV said about half of the money will be spent to expand the SNAP Stretch program over the next few years. The other half of the money is going towards creating a new, community grocery store on Charleston’s West Side the old Park Place building on the corner of Park and Central Avenues. The building has sat empty since 2017, and it’s owned by the city.