Siri Paing said she and her family are refugees from Myanmar. She said they came to America in 2013 and took over what is now called the Paing Family Asian Grocery in 2019.

The store has sold Asian goods and groceries for more than 30 years. Paing explained the building itself hasn’t had any upgrades during that time. 

“The roof is very old; it’s been here a long time—over 30 years here,” Paing said. “In this building, we only have one air conditioner, so we need more. We need to update the cooler and freezer, to get more food and get more vegetables for the customers.” 

Right now, Paing said the store is only able to receive shipments of fresh produce once a week due to their lack of freezer and cooler space. 

This is a problem for the people in her community because the Paing Family Asian Grocery is the only walkable place in the neighborhood that sells fresh, affordable food. 

“Around here, (this) is the only place they can get some type of vegetable, where they can walk and get it here,” she said. “Sometimes, the customers come on like Monday, and they ask for things and say, ‘Do you have this?’ and I have to tell them we don’t have anymore—it’s sold out.” 

Thanks to the award money from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, Paing will be able to make these necessary updates to her store. 

“It is really hard to get these without the grant,” she admitted. 

She said this money will make it easier for her to provide a place for her community to have access to healthy food.​