Charlotte and Mecklenburg County awarded millions in federal grants to nonprofit Carolina Farm Trust, or CFT, to open a local food distribution center and grocery store in west Charlotte.
But over the past year, Carolina Farm Trust has closed its farm stand, laid off its staff and subleased its newly renovated kitchen to a catering company.
Less than half a mile away, A Brighter Day Ministries runs a food pantry on a comparatively shoestring budget, less than $1 million. Volunteer Ashlyn Davis hands bags of food to two women from a caregiving center, checking to make sure they have eggs and milk.
Inside, three generations of Davises hustle to get food out the door. Ashlyn’s grandmother, Julia Davis, pulls meats, cheeses and other perishables from the fridge and bags them. She holds up a box of breakfast sandwiches and smiles.
“All you need is a cup of coffee,” Julia Davis said.
The line for the food pantry used to wrap around the block. Founder Beverly Knox Davis says it serves more than 80 people a day.
A Brighter Day is in the historically Black Thomasboro-Hoskins neighborhood. It’s a close-knit community with deep roots and a culture of neighbors helping neighbors.
It’s also a longstanding food desert. Just 3% of homes are within a half-mile of a full-service, chain grocery store. With only a few convenience stores and a Mexican tienda, residents’ health suffers. Davis said many seniors have to take a bus to the grocery store, which can be a hassle.
“A lot of times, they'll just walk to some of those convenience stores on South Hoskins,” Davis said. “You're not going to find produce there. That's for sure.”
The Carolina Farm Trust Market had promised to change that. The nonprofit Carolina Farm Trust, or CFT, planned to turn an old warehouse on South Hoskins Road into a distribution center and grocery store that would sell fresh, local produce. Plus, it would strengthen the local food ecosystem by preserving farmland and keeping farmers in business.
“It just had us all dreaming what could be a part of this area,” Davis said.
Four years later, CFT is subleasing the warehouse’s kitchen to a catering company. The nonprofit shut down most of its operations in July while it struggles to raise enough money to restart.
‘A lot has been for profit in other places’
The city awarded CFT $1.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to “serve both residential and commercial customers by buying and selling real food, for real people.” The County added another $6.7 million from the same pool.
In total, Carolina Farm Trust CEO Zack Wyatt raised a little more than $12 million, mostly in public funds. Most of that money went toward warehouse renovations and equipment costs. He donated the old refrigerators to A Brighter Day, which Davis said has been very helpful.
CFT also collaborated with the Brighter Day food pantry on some food distribution and opened a farm stand — a place where Hoskins locals could walk up and buy fresh, local produce, even if it was a little pricey.
“A lot has been for profit in other places, and it has not been here in Hoskins,” Davis said. “Except for that pop-up stand that did not have the best quality of anything, and it was very overpriced for what this demographic could afford.”
And it was open only four hours a week. When the hours didn’t improve and the grocery store didn’t materialize, residents grew concerned.
Wyatt said he understands he made mistakes with the farm stand.
“The responsibility ends with me,” Wyatt said. “We did not do a good job of rolling that out, managing it and making sure that the community was supported by it.”
These and other community concerns reached the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. Last November, they brought Wyatt in for questioning.
Commissioner Arthur Griffin was particularly skeptical. He said the distribution center “seems to be supportive of everybody else except the people in Hoskins.”
Wyatt said the grocery store was part of “Phase 2,” which would require another $8 million to build.
“We have a shovel-ready project that will address this issue in eight months if it's funded,” Wyatt said.
Nearly 10 months later, the nonprofit’s GoFundMe has raised only about $4,000 toward the next phase.
‘I just want to see it happen the way that it was presented’
The meeting didn’t go well for Carolina Farm Trust. Mecklenburg County had submitted a $4 million proposal to U.S. Rep. Alma Adams on Wyatt's behalf. The federal government approved $850,000.
After commissioners grilled Wyatt in November, they asked her to pull the plug on CFT’s funding. They also launched a third-party audit of CFT’s South Hoskins Road operations.
Wyatt said he didn’t know why they chose to give the money back. But in a letter to Adams, commissioners said they were no longer confident that CFT could deliver on its promises. They didn’t think the distribution center served the Thomasboro-Hoskins community, citing layoffs, high food prices and a “lack of benefit to farmers and local food producers within Mecklenburg County.”
Wyatt told WFAE he reached out to three farms in Mecklenburg County, but they didn’t sell to him.
“I can say this: There has been no Mecklenburg County farmer that has approached Carolina Farm Trust or myself, asking to sell their stuff through us,” Wyatt said.
It was a heavy blow, especially after the nonprofit lost $2.5 million to the 2025 federal budget cuts. But CFT’s problems didn’t start in 2025.
“There were a lot of concerns about the quality of things coming out of the pop-up stand, and ultimately it was shut down,” Davis said.
County representatives declined an interview with WFAE. But in a written response, county officials said they didn't know Wyatt had stopped the farm stand and leased out the kitchen. Wyatt said he plans to lease out more space in the building before the nonprofit resumes operations.
Commissioners plan to review the audit results in closed session Oct. 27.
Despite the setbacks, Davis said she still wants to see Carolina Farm Trust succeed. After all, the community still desperately needs a grocery store.
“Zack brought a lot of hope to a lot of people when it was all presented," she said, "and I just want to see it happen the way that it was presented to all of us.”
