Atlantic City among lowest in state in many social health categories, but work being done to improve | Local News

Neighborhood grocers, such as Boom Food Market, Brighton Grocery & Produce, Cedar Basic Food and 7-Eleven, are helping to fill the void.

Shawn Rinnier, president of Save Philly Stores, owns the Save A Lot discount grocer in Renaissance Plaza. Rinnier, an independent retailer, took over as the new owner of Save A Lot last January.

“Over the last 8 to 10 months, we’ve increased our produce, meats, international and national brands, and our sales have grown dramatically,” Rinnier said.

Many resort residents deal with food insecurity because they don’t have money for fresh food due to being unemployed.

With a 12.9% unemployment rate, the city ranks 523 out of 537 zip codes in the state.

A number of programs exist to help residents find meaningful employment. Isaac Wiggins, 43, who lives here and was unemployed last year, took advantage of the commercial driver’s license program offered at the Pleasantville One Stop Career Center by the Atlantic County Office of Workforce Development.

Now, Wiggins is a laborer who works at A.E. Stone Inc. in Egg Harbor Township and can drive a dump truck, a crash truck (a safety truck built to protect workers doing highway repairs) and a lowboy truck, which hauls oversized loads.