Homeless Cafes :: Essays Papers

Homeless coffee barsThere seems to be a welcome trend blossoming in kind services for the stateless. In place of large, impersonal dope up kitchens, small cafes are springing up with a philosophy that is all excessively rare-treat the homeless with respect and dignity, and maybe theyll respond to available services.It began with Cafe 458 in Atlanta in 1988, which since has served as a model for quasi(prenominal) cafes crossways the country. Cafe 458 was founded to serve good meals to small groups of homeless individuals, offer a comprehensive array of services, and empower those who eat at the Cafe. Part of its outline to empower homeless persons is to treat them with dignity-the staff refer to those who eat on that point as guests, non clients, food is served on real dishes, artwork adorns the walls, and perfumed flowers brighten each table. The Cafe serves except 28 guests at a time, all of whom are refer ablaze(p) by area social service agencies. To be referred to the Cafe, clients must not be actively using drugs, have no recent history of violence, and have a strong desire to meliorate their lives. On the average, guests regularly eat at the Cafe for six months originally they are able to find employment and/or housing.Since 1988, Cafe 458 has served only 1,000 muckle, but the staff considers its small numbers its strength. As Nancy Palchanis, executive director, explains, It is not a feeding program. It is about empowerment. Soup kitchens feed too more people. Our advantage is in the small size. The small size of Cafe 458, and others standardised it, is translating into success in the lives of their guests . For example, The Bread and Roses Cafe, run by a social service agency in Venice, California, enrolls some of its clients in a six-week intensive course in restaurant work and 20 hours of on-thejob training. Sixty-seven of the 112 people who have completed the program are now employed by restaurants in the Los Angeles area.Fortunately for some of Chicagos homeless, they too have a similar place to turn-Inspiration Cafe, located in the Uptown community. Since 1991, Inspiration Cafe has served good-tasting and reasoned meals to homeless individuals in Uptown and has provided them with a variety of comprehensive services.The Cafe was founded by Lisa Nigro, a former homeless in her community. Nigro began feeding the homeless in Uptown by carting around a red wagon filled with bagels and juice that she would serve to people waiting in lines at local shelters and soup kitchens.