USA - PENNSYLVANIA: Bridging The Gap: Community Leaders Strengthen Pittsburgh’s Food System With New Sun Rising’s Support

For 20 years, the Pittsburgh nonprofit has helped organizations navigate the gap between funders and those on the ground. City grants focused on alleviating food insecurity and related issues are putting that model to work.

Sponsored byNew Sun Rising

April 25, 2026

Terri Minor-Spencer, founder and president of West End P.O.W.E.R, and Tacumba Turner, Freight Farm Program Manager stand next to lettuce growing on a panel inside of the freight farm. (Photo by Alyse Horn, New Sun Rising).

Nestled next to the Community of Change Center on Centralia Street in the West End sits an unassuming white freight container.

Inside, the 320-square-foot metal structure houses a drip irrigation hydroponics system that grows 2,500 pounds of produce annually. The plants grow vertically on mobile panels that hang from the ceiling with nutrient-rich water that is plumbed overhead and, with a little help from gravity, drips down the panel to the plants’ roots. 

Managed by West End P.O.W.E.R., the Freight Farm received a Food Justice Fund (FJF) Grassroots Grant to pilot Growing Justice, a system expansion to increase year-round production of fresh vegetables. They’re also hosting educational programming around healthy food, and engaging groups of youth and formerly incarcerated individuals in job training through roles in farm maintenance, harvesting and food distribution.

“There are domino effects to not having healthy foods to eat,” said Terri Minor-Spencer, founder and president of West End P.O.W.E.R. “I want this conversation to be more tied together with how the choices that we make have a lot to do with what we put in our bodies.” 

The City of Pittsburgh released FJF grants in two rounds. The first, launched in 2024, was for large-scale food system investments and $1.1 million was awarded. The second, launched in 2025, was for grassroots organizations with a budget of $500,000 or less. In September, a total of 30 local food justice nonprofits were awarded $1.5 million. 

New Sun Rising (NSR), a nonprofit focused on supporting vibrant communities, is managing distribution of those funds. They serve as an operating system for community-driven development by providing leaders with skills, funding, connections and data to overcome the challenges of our time.