Alchemist Community Development Corporation

A nonprofit organization
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Connecting communities to land, food, and opportunity.

For more than 22 years, Alchemist Community Development Corporation (Alchemist CDC) has advanced equity, access, and economic opportunity through community-centered food systems across Sacramento County and beyond.

We believe food is foundational to health, culture, dignity, and economic stability. Our work is organized across four integrated departments that together form a local food ecosystem supporting people, small businesses, and neighborhoods from immediate stabilization to long-term opportunity and ownership.

Food Access

Alchemist CDC is a regional leader in expanding equitable access to healthy, locally grown food.

  • We manage six certified farmers’ markets across Sacramento County, including Sacramento’s flagship Sunday Central Sacramento Certified Farmers’ Market

  • We administer CalFresh/EBT and Market Match at nine certified farmers' markets, ensuring low-income families can access and afford fresh, locally-grown produce

  • In 2025, we facilitated over $1.6 million in CalFresh food purchasing power, supporting both household food security and small California farmers

  • We operate Community Food Connections, which provides weekly and monthly emergency food distributions in partnership with Sac City Unified School District and community sites - coordinated with social workers and case managers to support family stability

Economic Development

We support food entrepreneurs and workers who face systemic barriers to capital, space, and opportunity in restaurant, hospitality, and agriculture.

  • Alchemist Kitchen Incubator Program (AKIP) and Microenterprise Academy (AMA) provide affordable commercial kitchen access, business education, professional coaching and mentorship

  • Our programs support dozens of small food businesses each year - most owned by women, Veterans, LGBTQ+, persons with disabities, and entrepreneurs of color

  • Paid workforce development at Alchemist Events at Empress Tavern with our partners at Juma Ventures offers income, job readiness, and career exposure in food, hospitality, and events

  • Programs are designed to move participants toward long-term career stability, ownership, and leadership within the local food economy

Community Investment

We lead community-centered construction and placemaking projects that turn underutilized spaces into hubs for food, culture, and economic activity.

  • We develop and activate food-focused community spaces that reflect neighborhood identity and needs

  • Invest in physical infrastructure that supports small businesses, workforce pathways, and public gathering

  • Ensure community voice and lived experience shape how projects are designed and delivered

Advocacy & Systems Change

Alchemist CDC pairs on-the-ground service with local and statewide advocacy to strengthen food and economic policy.

  • We champion legislation and funding for CalFresh, Market Match, and Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO)

  • Elevate practitioner and community perspectives to inform policy decisions

  • Advocate for food systems that are more just, resilient, and responsive to real-world conditions

Why Your Support Matters

Your Big Day of Giving contribution helps:

  • Ensure the most at-risk students and families in SCUSD receive food and support

  • Sustain farmers’ markets that anchor neighborhoods and small farms

  • Support entrepreneurs and workers building stable livelihoods

  • Invest in community spaces that generate long-term economic and social return

  • Strengthen advocacy that shapes policy for a more equitable food system

Every dollar given to Alchemist CDC multiplies in impact - circulating through households, farms, small businesses, workers, and neighborhoods across the region.

When you support Alchemist CDC, you’re investing in people, places, and policies that make a stronger food system - for Sacramento and for California.


Mission

We connect communities to land, food, and opportunities.

Needs

Alchemist CDC’s work is made possible by people who believe that community-centered food systems are worth investing in. Financial support, volunteer time, and workplace partnerships allow us to respond to immediate community needs while continuing to build long-term economic opportunity across Sacramento County.

Unrestricted donations are especially critical. Flexible support allows us to keep farmers’ markets operating week after week, sustain CalFresh and Market Match access for families and farmers, maintain shared kitchens, gardens, and community spaces, and respond quickly as demand for food access, workforce training, and small business support grows. These dollars give us the ability to meet people where they are and adapt as conditions change.

Becoming a monthly donor is one of the most impactful ways to support Alchemist CDC. Recurring gifts provide steady, reliable funding that strengthens our programs year-round and allows us to plan responsibly, invest in staff and infrastructure, and expand services without interruption.

Support for our food business incubator and workforce programs helps entrepreneurs and workers access the tools, equipment, and training they need to build sustainable livelihoods. A single gift can help purchase essential kitchen equipment, while larger unrestricted contributions expand mentorship, paid workforce opportunities, and business development support for small food enterprises rooted in our community.

Donations also sustain community gardens and food-centered public spaces where neighbors grow food, share knowledge, and build connection. These spaces require ongoing care, programming, and creative engagement to remain welcoming, productive, and responsive to the communities they serve.

Alchemist CDC is also a meaningful option for employee giving and workplace partnerships. Contributions made through employer giving programs, team-based fundraising efforts, or combined with volunteer engagement create visible, local impact and connect workplaces directly to community-driven solutions.

Volunteers play a vital role in our work and often become some of our strongest advocates. Community members support CalFresh and Market Match distribution at farmers’ markets, participate in corporate and group volunteer days, lend professional expertise through project-based committees, and engage through internships and leadership pathways that deepen their connection to our mission.

By giving, volunteering, or bringing Alchemist CDC into your workplace, you help strengthen a food system rooted in equity, dignity, and opportunity—one that works for families, farmers, workers, and small businesses alike.

Equity Statement

At Alchemist CDC, we understand that the problems we're working to address – disparities in access to healthy food, green spaces, and entrepreneurship – are symptoms of a greater societal system that was built for some and to discriminate against others. We also recognize that Sacramento's history of redlining, redevelopment, and racial covenants have created barriers where race is the primary reason that a person faces additional hurdles.

By almost every metric, Black, Indigenous, and people of color suffer disadvantages and worse quality of life outcomes than their white neighbors. We also recognize that a person's race intersects with other social and political identities, such as gender, sexuality, national origin, and documentation status, which all overlap and create different forms of discrimination and disadvantage. We acknowledge our responsibility to dismantle white supremacy, uphold the experiences of people of color, and advance equitable change.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Alchemist Community Development Corporation

other names

Alchemist CDC

Year Established

2004

Tax id (EIN)

20-1891448

Guidestar

Mission Category

Community Improvement, Capacity Building

Operating Budget

$1,000,001-$5 million

Organization Need

Funding: Unrestricted, Board Members, Funding: Program, Volunteers

Demographics Served

Low-income individuals/families, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx

Local Counties Served

Sacramento, Yolo

Equity Statement

Equity Statement

Address

2901 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95816

Service areas

Sacramento, CA, US

Phone

916-204-8260

Email

info@alchemistcdc.org

Website

http://www.alchemistcdc.org

Social Media