A $3.5 million expansion is underway at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, aimed at bringing more help to more people across Tarrant County.

The new project will expand the food bank’s services beyond groceries, adding job training, children’s clothing, legal services, affordable childcare, a diaper bank, education classes and healthcare — all under one roof.

“I’m here because I need some help,” said Victoria Rocha, who lives in Fort Worth and said she never expected to find herself at the food bank. “I have an accident, I don’t have … support, you know.”

About a month ago, the food bank opened a market inside its administration building, offering neighbors another way to access food.

Julie Butner, president of the Tarrant Area Food Bank, said the organization is already seeing more people come directly to the campus for assistance.

“We are already seeing neighbors come to us … looking for food from the food bank rather than just our 500 partner agencies out in the community,” Butner said.

Historically, the campus has primarily been used for food staging, volunteers and administrative operations. But Butner said needs in the surrounding area have shifted in recent years.

“This corridor of the city is very quickly changing,” Butner said.

What was once largely a warehouse district now includes housing, retail and restaurants. Butner said improved access, including a bridge crossing the Trinity River, has also made the campus easier to reach.

“Now with the bridge that crosses the Trinity River, we are far more accessible today than we were, say, five years ago,” Butner said.

The $3.5 million project will renovate an agricultural building on campus to create a larger market and space for expanded services. Butner said the changes are based on feedback from the people the food bank serves.

“This is a holistic approach to meet neighbors where they are and to support them with more than food so that they can get out of the crisis and the predicament that they’re currently in,” Butner said.

Rocha said she supports the expansion.

“I think it’s amazing,” Rocha said.