204 + 210 Ecorse Road
Ypsilanti, MI
The FedUp team has been working hard to find the perfect place to call home, and we are proud to announce that we will officially be opening our very own dedicated headquarters and community space at 204/210 Ecorse Road in Ypsilanti. We can’t wait to bring new life into a site that has been vacant for years; Ypsi natives may know it for the Taco Bell that operated there in the 90s, and old timers might even remember the gas station that stood on the lot in the 80s!
We’re building this 7,000 square foot space from the ground up and have big plans, so please read on to learn about what’s to come and to tell us what you’re hoping to see! We want to give special thanks to our friends at First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti, Growing Hope, the Ypsilanti Farmer’s Market, and Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor for making us feel at home in our temporary spaces as our organization has grown over the years.
What Will Be in the New Building?
Having our own commercial kitchen will allow our Free Meal Program to flourish by providing a space that meets the exact needs of a program built to feed our community. This area will be filled with dedicated staff and volunteers hard at work preparing meals for our free distributions and catering services. Outside of meal prep, we will be welcoming the next generation of chefs to get hands-on cooking experience in our kitchen through our Mini Chef Camp program!
Dignity is at the core of our WashUp program, so our new building will feature dedicated facilities that allow guests to use the bathroom, shower, and do their laundry onsite all year long in a clean, private space.
We are proud to offer a space where guests of any and all beliefs are welcome to worship and celebrate in community. Even though we are distinctly Lutheran Christian in our theology, we have a history of worshipping alongside people of many different beliefs during our services. Holding our LiftUp services onsite will allow us to deepen our spiritual practices.
A "third space" refers to a place for socializing outside of home and work. A decommodified third space is a place where people can exist without the expectation of spending money. This new building will have a dedicated place where guests are welcomed and known by their names as we live into our core values of People and Dignity. We are dedicated to building strong relationships within our community, so we welcome all to come by for a cup of coffee, a conversation, or simply a quiet moment in a safe space. Our new home is your new home.
Our trailers are moving into their own new home! Until now, our trailers have only been available for use seasonally due to the impact of harsh winter weather, but we are thrilled to be incorporating safe storage for our fleet of vehicles to be used all year long.
Our offices will be directly onsite, providing smooth communication and readily available meeting space for staff, board members, interns, and partners.
We're Not Done Yet!
We are so grateful for the immense amount of support that we have received toward securing our new space, and we can’t wait to make our vision a reality! If you would like to contribute to making our facilities the best they can be, you can click the link below to contribute, or share it with anyone else who may be interested!
FedUp is committed to providing services by our community for our community, and we want to hear from you! We are still in the planning phases of development, so this is the perfect time to share any ideas or hopes you have for this space. What would make you feel most at home? Have accessibility considerations that we should be aware of? Click the form below to anonymously share your thoughts and ideas so that we can make sure our space is built to serve our community!
You're invited to our Open House
Come see our future space in person!
Join us for FedUp’s Open House to celebrate this achievement, dream about the new space, and see some of the early designs of our future home.
đź“… Thursday, October 29
đź•“ 4:00–7:00 PM
đź“Ť 204 & 210 Ecorse Rd, Ypsilanti
This is a drop-in event, so come anytime, no ticket or RSVP necessary! We’ll be serving a meal from our food truck, so enjoy a bite while you visit.
We’re off to a great start thanks to Pilot Pen and The Kelly Clarkson Show and a couple of very generous donors. We hope to move into our new home by late 2027. This next step in God’s call for our ministry is one we want to take with you.
Now we need you! Come see what’s coming, share what you’d like to see as we redevelop this site, and help us build a space where our whole community is fed and nourished in body & spirit.
