Goodr, in partnership with Martin Luther King Jr. High School and the City of Stonecrest opens The Lion’s Den Grocery Store, the first-ever free grocery store within the DeKalb County School District.
Housed inside MLK Jr. High, this store will provide hundreds of students, and their families access to fresh groceries throughout the school year in an environment built on dignity and respect.
In DeKalb County, where over 34% of residents live in poverty and with over 41% of Black households in DeKalb struggling to afford necessities, this initiative is more than just a convenience—it’s a lifeline.
Black households struggle to make ends meet, access to nutritious food isn’t guaranteed, it’s a daily challenge. With median household incomes at just $45,431 and an unemployment rate of 4.8%, many families in Lithonia are forced to make impossible choices between food, rent, and other necessities.
Goodr said they are proud to have partnered with the city of Stonecrest and the Title 1 school to open The Lion’s Den, its first free grocery store in DeKalb County School District (DCSD)—Georgia’s third-largest school district, serving more than 92,000 students across nearly 140 schools and centers.
The event also included tours of the new market and remarks on the new solution’s impact on food insecurity within the DeKalb County School District and beyond.
MLK Jr. High School Principal Michael Alexander said through the partnership with the City of Stonecrest, 12 schools within the DeKalb County School District $100,000 to be able to use for wellness or Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), to impact the school community.
“We decided to use those funds, with the safe center we created, to partner with Goodr to create this grocery store inside our school and to be able to serve our community,” he said. “This was also to help alleviate food insecurities that we noticed within MLK Jr. High.”
MLK Jr. High also has been implementing the Student and Family Engagement Center (SFEC), also known as the Safe Center, which is a collaboration between wraparound services and community partnerships to provide comprehensive support to students and families.
Mayor of Stonecrest Jazzmin Cobble said she feels overstimulated and very excited to see the Lion’s Den come to fruition.
“It’s been a long time coming, a lot of great work has been put into it, from the school system to the city, to the county, and to our school right here at MLK,” she said.
One thing they wanted to do, Cobble said, was to support their students and decrease the distractions in the classroom, one of which is hunger.
“If there’s anything we can do to get that out of their system, so when they’re in class, they can focus, pay attention, and contribute, then that’s what we wanted to do,” she said. “We just want them to be the very best they can be.”
Superintendent Dr. Devon Horton said with grocery bills gradually increasing, families can benefit from having the type of access to groceries the Lion’s Den will offer for them.
“Groceries are at an all-time high, and we’re concerned when we talk about food insecurities, the direct connections to the SEL, and mental health challenges our students and families are already facing, this allows the families of MLK to have one less concern,” Horton said.
Dr. Naomi Hemphill, the Social Work liaison for the Safe Center, says the goal of the center is to increase student engagement through the development of a safe and welcoming space for students where they can have their needs met while on student practice.
“As a district, we are always seeking opportunities that support our efforts in student academic success. One of the many significant barriers for gaps is food insecurity,” she said. “One study reports food insecurity impacts 1/8 of American households, which in turn affects student attendance, their behavior, and overall academics.”
Furthermore, Hemphill says they aspire to decrease food insecurity while increasing academic performance, promoting school attendance initiatives, and increasing their engagement between parents, families, and the school, so students can graduate successfully and no longer wait for a “once a month” distribution or sit in a line for 30 plus minutes.
Alexander said the process will be handled with a Google form where the first month will be its “trial and error” period. Between 25-50 families will be able to sign up and after that month, they will see if they can increase the number of families.
The Lion’s Den will be available to students and families starting Monday, March 3.
For more information, visit https://www.mlkinghs.dekalb.k12.ga.us.
