There is only one grocery store within the Woonsocket city limits: a Price Rite on Diamond Hill Road, about 5 miles from the city center. A Stop & Shop in North Smithfield is about 5 miles from the town center in the opposite direction.

A food desert means that at least one-fifth of residents live in poverty and that at least one-third live more than a mile from a supermarket, according to the US Department of Agriculture designation. Other, smaller food deserts exist in parts of Providence, Warwick, Johnston, Pawtucket, Cranston and other areas of Rhode Island.

Talk of opening a large supermarket has circulated in the city for years, but nothing has come to fruition. Between overflowing shop windows, however, a few unlocked doors offer relief. A small team of nonprofit leaders have worked together for years to provide food and other resources to the city’s 43,000 inhabitant.

“There’s nothing here local to anybody,” said Norman Boutin, who runs free Sunday meals in the parking lot of Bouley Field, a local park. “Even in stores like Price Rite, the food is expensive. Or it’s not on the shelf.”

Mayor Christopher Beauchamp said he was disappointed by the council’s vote against the $3 million federal grant from the US Economic Development Administration to develop a food hub.

“I would have loved to have tried it,” he said.

The Rhode Island Food Council estimates that one in three Rhode Islanders struggle with food insecurity, leading to a increased risk of health disparitiesincluding obesity and diabetes. Poverty in Woonsocket is higher than the state average, according to US Census data. And unemployment is at 5.7 percent second highest in the state.

About 12,000 people, or about 28 percent of Woonsocket’s population, receive federal food assistance money transferred electronically to EBT cards on the first of each month, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Those with access to a car can get to the Price Rite on Diamond Hill or the Stop & Shop in North Smithfield for groceries, but many residents don’t have access to transportation and have expressed frustration with the lack of buses that shuttle in and out of town.

Christa Thomas-Sowers is a coordinator at Community Care Alliance, which offers more than 40 service programs for those facing challenges such as poverty and homelessness. She invites residents to the facility for everything from a cup of coffee to shelter.

Although her job can be grueling, Thomas-Sowers said she knows many in the city would not survive without the help she and other nonprofits provide.

“There’s one good meal a day in Woonsocket,” she said.

Still, some city leaders seem convinced the city is “Get it done!” which is Woonsocket’s official slogan.

Beauchamp said attracting a grocery store remains a top priority as mayor. Some developers are interested, though he said he doesn’t want to divulge more details until papers are signed.

“Not everyone is going to get what they want, or the money they want, but at least we’ve had conversations,” Beauchamp said. “You may not get what you need today, but down the road, who knows?”

City Council President John Ward, who is running against Beauchamp for mayor in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary, was one of four council members who voted against the food hub resolution, saying the 15-year mortgage the federal government wanted “came with so many strings attached.” He said the hub, which would involve hiring private food vendors, should be run by an outside nonprofit agency instead.

Woonsocket was once one of the largest textile manufacturing centers in the United States. But after a prosperous century, the mills moved to where cotton was cheaper. A banking crisis in the 1990s put an end to the local financial industry.

On many days, hungry residents line up for meals at churches and in parking lots around the city.

Sunday attracts the largest crowd of residents for the meal held in Bouley Fields car park. One Sunday at the end of March, the children were running around playing with bubbles. Trucks pulled up and unloaded collapsible tables and brown-wrapped bags of Easter candy. The main meal was served in takeout containers and groups of residents peeled off to eat their food while sitting on the metal rails along the outside of the field.

Jeanne Michon, who grew up in Woonsocket, has been helping feed others in the city for 38 years. The youngest of seven children, she said she was the first member of her family to graduate from college.

Michon remembers opening her bedroom window at night as a child to watch teenagers driving up the block to go to the movies and Jack In The Box on Diamond Hill, both of which are closed.

After graduating from Johnson & Wales University, she returned to help the best way she knew how: by cooking. Her organization, Fresh start, host a freshly cooked lunch four days a week. Michon serves hundreds of residents at the meal site held in St. James Episcopal Church. Resident favorites include her beef chop suey and classic meatloaf.

Daniel Coleman, 44, lives in affordable housing and works for a local transport company. He relies on New Beginnings for meals and said Michon “doesn’t turn anyone away.”

Coleman said things could improve if local officials address the development needed to create opportunities for residents.

“I can’t tell you how often I drive down the road and I see there are people who have nowhere to go,” he said. “They just walk around.”

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Alexa Coultoff can be reached at [email protected]. follow her @alexacoultoff.