A vacant storefront at Northgate Mall is becoming a one-stop community resource center where Marin County residents can get healthcare, free food, and tutoring.
The Kove is expected to open in August 2026 at 5800 Northgate Drive in San Rafael, according to a KRON4 report. The hub is led by Sally Newson, founder and executive director of Karma Club, the free teen study and maker space that already operates at Suite 74 in the mall.
The organization's website, thekove.org, went live Tuesday, July 14. It describes The Kove as "a welcoming community hub in San Rafael where Marin County residents can access food, wellness programs, community resources, and opportunities to connect." The site organizes services around four pillars: food access, wellness programs, community resources, and connection. Each pillar represents a category of programming the hub will offer, consolidating services that are otherwise scattered across separate agencies countywide. The Kove's stated mission is bringing Marin County residents of all ages together through connection, wellness, health education, and access to healthy food and trusted resources. The site also directs visitors to follow @thekovecommunity on Instagram for updates on programming and opening details.
Partners include Marin Community Clinics, Sutter Health, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, ExtraFood, and Dominican University of California. The hub will house The Kove Market, an enlarged free food store open to the community, and an expanded free tutoring and academic center, according to Karma Club's Instagram announcement and its 2025 impact report on LinkedIn.
The space sits three doors from Karma Club's existing teen center, toward Macy's. Karma Club's teen program will continue separately at its current location.
Karma Club's existing Northgate operation has drawn significant traffic. The nonprofit logged 2,254 teen visits to its after-school center in fall 2025 alone, provided more than 350 free tutoring sessions, and graduated 25 students from its Future Healers Academy, a healthcare career program run with Dominican University and Sutter Health. Karma Club already operates a free food and clothing store for students and their families inside its current space.
The hub will open as the broader Northgate Mall site undergoes a major transformation. Demolition began in May 2026 on the former Sears building to make way for Northgate Town Square, a 1,422-home mixed-use development with retail and green space, according to SFGate. The Kove occupies space in the still-operating portion of the mall, though the relationship between its lease and the redevelopment timeline has not been publicly disclosed.
About 54.5% of residents in San Rafael's nearby Canal District live below 200% of the federal poverty level, according to a 2025 Marin County report. ExtraFood, one of The Kove's partners, estimates one in five Marin County residents are food-insecure.
No specific opening date has been announced beyond August 2026. Updates will be posted at thekove.org, and the project can also be followed on Instagram at @thekovecommunity.
