Gates of Hope food pantry, displaced from former school, has new home in the Flint

FALL RIVER — The Gates of Hope food pantry, which was displaced last year, has found a new home at Espirito Santo Church, according to Principal Andrew Raposo.

“Gates Of Hope Inc. will remain in the Flint neighborhood!” Raposo wrote in a post on social media.

“We are blessed and grateful that God brought us to another location where we can fight hunger and bring hope to all those whom we have served these past 10 years!” the charity announced on its own Facebook page.

The Gates of Hope hunger-relief organization had its longtime home in the former Davol School at 112 Flint St., providing food and other supplies to the poor in a particularly hard-hit part of the city.

‘You gave it back’: A timeline of the sale of Fall River’s former Davol School explained.

Gates of Hope lost one home, moving to Espirito Santo

In 2024, the city officially reclaimed ownership of the property from the Flint Neighborhood Association, which in 2014 had purchased the property for just over $5,000 on condition it would build a community center there. When those plans never materialized, the city exercised a reverter clause in its sales agreement, allowing it to reclaim the property – which left Gates of Hope without a home.

Raposo stated that he worked with the Rev. Maurice Gauvin of Espirito Santo Parish “to make this a reality.”

Reverter clause: Why was Flint’s Davol School property never redeveloped?

“Also, thank you to our middle school students and teachers at Espirito Santo Parochial School, who had a big role in helping prepare this space, so that Gates Of Hope could move in,” he wrote.

The food pantry will now be located at the rear of 311 Alden St., in the building behind Espirito Santo Church.

The pantry is open by appointment only, Tuesday to Friday from 2 to 4 p.m.