FedUp Ministries started out as a food truck handing out healthy meals to food-insecure families around Ypsilanti. Now the nonprofit has purchased two lots on Ecorse Road, laying the groundwork for a permanent, roughly 7,000-square-foot building that organizers hope will let them double the number of meals they serve each year.
The organization currently serves between 25,000 and 30,000 meals annually, and executive director Anna Taylor-McCants hopes to push that number up to 50,000, according to mlive.com. Part of that growth is driven by demand: FedUp says it is seeing more families show up at its meal services, and Taylor-McCants has said the new building will expand the organization's reach as that demand grows, according to a report from ClickOnDetroit | WDIV Local 4. The planned site, a former gas station, will still need property testing before construction can begin, per that same report.
What the New Building Will Include
The future building is designed to hold a large kitchen, five bathrooms, a laundry area, worship space, and storage for FedUp's food truck, according to ClickOnDetroit | WDIV Local 4. It's also meant to serve as what the organization calls a third space — somewhere people can gather without being expected to spend money. The design echoes what FedUp itself describes on its website: a kitchen, offices for its team, a worship space, vehicle storage and a community gathering area, made possible in part through a partnership with Pilot Pen that is helping launch its building fundraising campaign.
The mlive.com report adds further detail, describing plans for private shower and laundry areas, a garage for equipment, room for FedUp's LiftUp worship services, and paved play spaces for local children. Fundraising is underway: as of late October, FedUp had raised roughly $500,000 toward the project but still needed to raise around $1.5 million, Taylor-McCants told the outlet. She also said there are no plans to turn the new space into a permanent overnight homeless shelter, though it could open during emergencies.
Timeline and Breakfast-and-Lunch Goals
FedUp hopes to break ground in March or April of 2027 and complete the building by the end of that year, per Taylor-McCants, as reported by ClickOnDetroit | WDIV Local 4. One motivation behind the expansion is filling a daily gap: the organization hopes to offer breakfast and lunch every day because, as mlive.com reports, those meals can be difficult to find in and around Ypsilanti.
From Food Truck to Full-Service Ministry
FedUp Ministries began serving food in 2021 as a mobile operation delivering meals to food-insecure communities. Since then it has expanded into mobile showers and laundry facilities, and opened its first home base at 16 South Washington Street in June 2024, where it has offered showers, job training, support services and free meals, according to an earlier mlive.com report. That same month, the Ypsilanti City Council unanimously approved a $50,000 contract to support the nonprofit's services, the outlet noted. FedUp's WashUp mobile shower program dates back even further, launching in the summer of 2023 with free showers four days a week at the city's warming center, according to WEMU.
FedUp's website separately lists 300 N. Washington St. in Ypsilanti as a permanent LiftUp location for 2026, tied to its kitchen and offices inside First Presbyterian Church. Nationally, the ministry's work has drawn attention beyond Washtenaw County: Taylor-McCants received a $100,000 G2 Overachievers Grant after appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, and the organization has served more than 75,000 meals and provided over 10,000 hygiene services in total, according to WXYZ.
A County Facing Rising Need
The push for a bigger, permanent space comes as food insecurity climbs across Washtenaw County. Food Gatherers reported that the share of county residents facing food insecurity rose from 12.5% to 14% compared with the prior year's data, per WEMU. Out of roughly 51,000 residents facing food insecurity, fewer than half qualify for SNAP benefits, the same report found. A separate Washtenaw Continuum of Care review found 552 people experiencing homelessness across the county at the end of 2023, a 15% increase from 2022, according to WEMU's earlier coverage. Against that backdrop, FedUp's plan to double its meal output on Ecorse Road represents one nonprofit's bet that a permanent home can meet a need that's only growing.
