“Until a clean and airy ShopRite opened a year ago in Parkside, her low-income west Philadelphia neighborhood, Christine Gilliard used to pay someone to drive her several miles to the closest supermarket so she could avoid a long bus ride. Now she can walk to the new 69,700-square-foot store as often as she likes.” (Read articles in the June 17th NYT and June 18th Philadelphia Daily News.)

This is an amazing story. Not only because it goes beyond individual responsibility (eat better) to begin to address the social determinants of health (affordable access to healthy food). Not simply because it is happening in a neighborhood especially threatened by “food insecurity,” which is a major cause of obesity. And not just because it is a story of overcoming significant obstacles of economics, safety, perception and competing interests.

This story is most amazing because of the way this particular supermarket came to be in this neighborhood. When we first learned about this several months ago, we heard how owner Jeff Brown visited with community leaders, how he listened and got to know what was most important here. And how he collaborated in building what has become a source of nourishment in the broadest sense.

It is what sociologist and author, Ray Oldenburg, calls a “great good place,” in his book by the same name. Like the cathedrals of old Europe, this is a place where community members gather, for fellowship as well as for groceries (which includes foods selected by the community, such as Caribbean and West African specialties, and halal meats, catering to the large Muslim population).

Employees are hired from the neighborhood, including ex-offenders who need a second chance. There are community meeting rooms, and the local activist was invited to set up “shop” here. Some residents make it a point to visit nearly every day, whether or not they need groceries. And while crime is often cited as a barrier in urban neighborhoods, residents here consider themselves the “security guards,” preserving a place they feel part of.

A great good place gives us more than “access;” it allows us to belong.