Mercado on Fifth is one of two Quad Cities-area nonprofits that will receive Transformation Grants from the Quad Cities Community Foundation to expand local workforce development efforts. Mercado on Fifth will receive $100,000 thanks to donors who give through the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund at the Community Foundation. The Transformation Grants are the largest awarded by the Community Foundation each year. The significant award is a vote of confidence for our ongoing efforts that have supported diversity and equity since 2016.
Mercado on Fifth has helped provided a platform for over 50 minority-owned businesses. The open-air night market is located at the gateway to Floreciente, a low-to-moderate income neighborhood on the western edge of downtown Moline where approximately 75 percent of the residents are Hispanic.
The weekly summer event has reached its capacity at its outdoor location and the organization’s leadership plans to purchase and renovate a nearby indoor location to allow for year-round Mercado events and expansion of their approach to business incubation.
“The support we’ve received from the Community Foundation will further establish the inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem and cultural destination Mercado on Fifth has created in the Quad Cities,” Maria Ontiveros, President of Mercado on Fifth, told the Quad-City Times. “The Transformation Grant also will help us secure additional funding from other sources necessary to complete this major expansion project.”