Metcalfe Park residents rely on health and wellness fair after nearby grocery store closes

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Residents in Metcalfe Park are leaning on each other and their community for resources after Pick 'n Save closures left the neighborhood without a nearby grocery store.

The Pick 'n Save on N. 35th Street near Metcalfe Park officially closed July 18.

Janice Austin-Crump lives down the street on 29th and Center and says she used to get everything she needed at the Pick 'n Save.

"Every supply that they have, I probably have had it," Austin-Crump said. "Now I go back and forth but I go further, so that isn’t good, it’s more gas for me because I can’t carry a lot at one time.”

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges hosted "The We Outside: Health and Wellness Fair" on Tuesday at the Jewish Community Pantry Center.

“Folks are really struggling to access fresh food, and we have a fresh food produce market every week so we’re working to supplement those needs right now," Pantry Director Heidi Gould said.

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges hosts three of these fairs every summer, and they typically see around 200 people arrive in total.

Organizers say this fair is a great way for people to get the resources they’re missing after the Pick 'n Save closed almost two weeks ago.

“They are shocked because that store location was always busy, folks were always shopping there and there really is no alternative,” said Melody McCurtis, the deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.