2025 Nourish DC Grant

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The Nourish DC grant will support for-profit food businesses located in Washington D.C. with a preference for businesses that are locally owned, increase access to healthy food, create quality jobs, and are located in neighborhoods lacking access to grocery stores.

Background 

The Nourish DC Collaborative (Nourish DC or Nourish) was created in 2021 in partnership with the Government of the District of Columbia to support the development of a robust ecosystem of locally owned food businesses, neighborhood vibrancy, and healthy DC neighborhoods, especially in neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores and other food businesses.     

$450,000 in grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 will be available through the 2025 Nourish DC Grant to a wide range of food businesses, including (but not limited to) grocery stores, food incubators, corner stores, cooperative businesses, farmers' markets, urban farms, food processors, food hubs, restaurants, caterers, and food delivery businesses. 

The Nourish DC Collaborative partner organizations are Capital Impact Partners, CDC Small Business Finance, City First Enterprises, Dreaming Out Loud, EatsPlace, Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), and the Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Inc. (Wacif). Capital Impact Partners is the fund manager and will administer the grants. 

Timeline 

  • Application opens September 23, 2025
  • Application closes at 11:59 PM EST November 2, 2025
  • Applicants will be notified by December 31, 2025 if they will move on to the next stage of the grant selection process
  • Awardees will receive funding by the second quarter of 2026
  • Grant period will end one year after funding is received

Eligibility 

To be eligible for this grant, a business must:  

  • Grow, process, distribute, or sell food products
  • Have a physical location in the District of Columbia    
  • Be a registered for-profit business in the District of Columbia for six months or more
  • Have generated $10,000 or more of gross revenue (not profits) from food sales in the previous 12 months

Businesses are ineligible for this grant if:  

  • Selected as a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant (RFSI) Finalist
  • Registered as a nonprofit organization
  • Grant funds will be used to pay general operating expenses

Preference will be given to businesses:

  • Located in Wards 5, 7, or 8 and businesses located in the geography included in the Supermarket Tax Incentives Program area. The business does not need to be a supermarket.
  • That sell healthy food
  • With owners that live in Washington D.C.
  • That create quality jobs

Use of Funds

Eligible uses of grant funds include, but are not limited to:  

  • Cold storage
  • Tenant improvements and/or renovations
  • Delivery vehicles 
  • Equipment
  • Furniture and fixtures
  • Marketing
  • Staff development and training
  • Technology

If a business moves to the next phase of the grant selection process, the awardee must provide the following documentation within 21 days of notification:  

  • Business W-9 dated after April 1, 2025
  • Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Organization, or similar formation documentation appropriate to entity type
  • Bylaws, Operating Agreement, or similar formation documentation appropriate to entity type
  • Financial statements including 2024 Federal Tax Return and 2024 Income Statement
  • Certificate of Good Standing from the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP), which was formerly the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) dated within the previous 90 days
  • Certificate of Clean Hands from the DC Office of Tax & Revenue dated within the previous 90 days
  • Certificate of Insurance

Informational Webinars

  • Informational Webinar 1: September 30, 2025  5-6 PM EST, register here
  • Informational Webinar 2: October 9, 2025 10 - 11 AM EST, register here
  • Informational Webinar 3: October 14, 2025 5 - 6 PM EST, register here
  • Informational Webinar 4: October 28, 2025 12 - 1 PM EST, register here

In-Person Office Hours

  • Office Hours: October 1, 2025 10 AM - 1 PM EST, Anacostia Library, register here
  • Office Hours: October 8, 2025 2 - 5 PM EST, MLK Memorial Library, register here
  • Office Hours: October 23, 2025 2- 5 PM EST, Mt. Pleasant Library, register here
  • Office Hours: October 29, 2025 11 AM - 5 PM EST, MLK Memorial Library, register here

Nourish DC Open House

Meet and network with Nourish DC Collaborative Partners, representatives from DC government, food policy advocates, and small businesses that have utilized Nourish funding and technical assistance resources. Learn more about the current Nourish DC grant process, lending, and technical assistance and its impact on the food ecosystem!

  • Open House: October 16, 2025 4-7PM EST, MLK Memorial Library, register here 

Questions

Please contact Alison Powers, Director, Economic Opportunities, Capital Impact Partners, nourishdc@capitalimpact.org, (703) 647-2369.

Technical assistance in Spanish is available through our partner, the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC). For more information please contact Oscar Rojas, orojas@ledcmetro.org, (202) 743-4904.


 

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