A New place to call H.O.M.E.

In some parts of the world, a café can actually be licensed to sell alcohol, one place being France. Shocking, I know. Could you actually imagine walking into a quiet peaceful place and see bottles of Tequila, Beer, and even more liquor surrounding coffee and baked goods? By being able to write this article about Project H.O.M.E.’s newest edition, I was able to learn a little more about café’s in general. Take this for examples, in the United Kingdom, café’s are known by another name, Greasy Spoon. Though they don’t sell coffee or baked goods. By the name you can probably guess that a Greasy Spoon sells burgers, sausages, fried eggs, friend bacon. Mostly fried or grill food. Not very healthy, but it makes my mouth water nonetheless and if you’re hungry yours too.

While the actual term for café is defined as being is “an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made to order sandwiches.” Café’s are different from coffee houses, which usually only focuses on coffee alone. A café’s is regarded by some to be the central gathering point to gather for conversations, meetings, studying, etc. Which I’m sure anyone can imagine. If you have never been to a café’ (Like me, though I’ve only been to one once and know I work at one) picture this, big comfy chairs, the aroma of coffee and cookies, and you and your friends talking about the days events.

When walking past a café, the smell of coffee often reminds me of baked goods. The specific would only be cookies, I like cookies.  The taste of coffee, unless it has plenty of cream and sugar, has never really been, for a better choice of words, my cup of tea. I never really considered myself a café person. It must be admitted in this article that within my mind the actual knowledge that café’s existed had been absent. Where have I been must be the question that you are asking. The only time that a café was mentioned to me had been when reading up on Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and others. Surprisingly enough, café’s are the ideal spot for writers. For the Free Library Of Philadelphia patrons who have been coming to the main branch for years can now be seen when leaving with not only a good book in hand  but either a cup of coffee or a treat from the H.O.M.E. Page Cafe’..

It was on April 16, 2008 that Project H.O.M.E. together with the Free Library of Philadelphia and Metropolitan Bakery held the grand opening for the newest addition to the Project H.O.M.E. family, the H.O.M.E. Page Café. So far, since the opening of the café it has been a huge success. Whether it be rain or shine you can always find a faithful visitor of the library arriving at the café for his/her cup of coffee or cookie. Myself on the other hand can often be found buying Alex’s Lemonade, a peanut butter bar, or actually working there as either cashier or server. There are times when even I can be found in the corner taking advantage of the library’s free wireless internet. Forgot to mention that people go to café’s to work too.

“Our mission stems from the “O” in Project H.O.M.E.-Opportunities for employment,” says Lisa Kavanagh, Manager of Businesses at Project H.O.M.E.  “In the case of formerly homeless people, some have little or no work experience. In our supported employment environment, our hosts receive the building blocks to become a great employee. It also builds work experience for their resume, and builds self worth to know you are a part of something great.”

Ms. Lisa Kavanagh, receiving her college degree from the Art Institute of New York in Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management, had worked in great and expensive restaurants in New York City. “I left that life because making expensive food for someone with too much money was not fulfilling.” She adds.  As the manager of Businesses for Project H.O.M.E., Ms. Lisa gets to utilize her culinary background while overseeing business.

Starbucks has contributed financially to the café by loaning them coffee equipment and providing a trainer before the café actually opened. Bank of America also gave generously by giving the café financial resources to get up and running, “These are benefits that other businesses don’t have.” The Back H.O.M.E. Café has an extraordinary relationship with Metropolitan Bakery; Metropolitan has helped train the hosts of the café sells their baked goods to H.O.M.E. Page which they do not do for anyone else in the city. “Seeing customers recognize their products and name has helped business tremendously.” Added Ms. Lisa.  

“The idea of the Café came from Ms. Linda Johnson in 2006,” says Sister Mary Scullion, Co director of Project H.O.M.E. “We saw that it was an opportunity both for the Project H.O.M.E. residents as well as the Harold A. Honickman Young Entrepreneurs.”

During grand opening day, the café was filled to capacity. Beginning first with speeches from project organizers and café employees followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony by Mayor Michael Nutter. “The benefit of opening in an existing building is that we have an instant audience!” says Ms. Lisa, “Library patrons and staff are pleased with out presence and business is thriving, something not always common for new businesses.”

The concept for the café was built upon both the Back H.O.M.E. Café’ and Catering which is operated out of Project H.O.M.E.’s main offices at 1515 Fairmount Avenue and Project H.O.M.E.’s Marketplace operated at RittenHouse Square by teen members of the Harold A. Honickman Young Entrepreneur program. The café; has employed 10 formerly homeless Philadelphians and five teens from the young entrepreneur program. Employees earn $8.75 an hour.

Ask what she hopes the café will accomplish and Sister Mary replies, “My fondest hope for the Café is that it is a fun place to go to get quality food and drink and it is a successful launching pad for our young entrepreneurs and for formerly homeless adults getting back into the workplace.”

“Working with teens is incredible,” says Ms. Lisa, “So much changes for them over a short time that it’s hard to keep up.” Readers, let me just say that working at H.O.M.E. Page isn’t as hard as one may think. Though making coffee is a breeze, lattes and cappuccinos are a little hard for me to master, though I’ve been getting better at it. Seeing the customers bright smiles after each transition always makes my and the other hosts/hostesses day. 

“For the café I want to help many residents and teens gain great work experience in a public setting,” added Ms. Lisa, “My fondest hope for our hosts is that they go on to other jobs when the are ready to have the confidence that they can succeed in anything, and on occasion use something that they learned here in the future, whether it be for work or home life.”