Catapult Cafe Will Give Low-Income Artists, Craftspeople Place To Sell Work
SAINT JOHN – Colin McDonald knows a sex trade worker in the city who makes “really cool” stained-glass artwork. But he says she doesn’t realize being an artist could be an alternate career path, a different way of seeing herself and her true value.
“The narrative in her life is that she’s a prostitute, as opposed to an artist,” says McDonald. “So how do you move someone on the shaping of their own narrative from, ‘I am a prostitute’ to ‘I am an artist.’ “
McDonald, the director of training and employment for Outflow Ministries, says the Catapult Cafe and Studio may be the solution for people like her, and others living in poverty or underemployed and unsure about how to pursue jobs that reflect their passions and skill sets.
The new cafe, which will open later this fall on Princess Street uptown, will provide opportunities for them to develop skills and market products and services to the broader public.
It will also be a great place to get a cup of coffee and buy a nice piece of artwork or a custom-made coffee table.
“You can come and sit down for a coffee, and the table you’re sitting at might be for sale,” says McDonald.
Catapult Cafe will be located in a historic brick building constructed in 1889 that was once the office of a prominent physician of that era, Dr. Mason Sheffield. The building also had the first indoor phone booth, McDonald has been told, which is still there but not doesn’t work. They plan to restore it as part of the renovations for the cafe and studio.
The building most recently housed 10 Thousand Villages and an Anglican bookstore. The Anglican Diocese agreed to lease it to Outflow for the cafe and studio, which will become part of integrated series of Outflow programs for people underemployed or living in poverty who want to nurture and develop skills they can use to get jobs or start their own businesses.
Outflow currently operates a men’s shelter and a popular meal program for people living in poverty in the city. Earlier this year, Brenan’s Funeral Homes closed Fitzpatrick’s Funeral Home on Waterloo Street and donated the building to Outflow.
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The organization has since opened the Outflow Centre for Training & Employment there. The building houses Catapult Industry Inc., a successful social enterprise construction company created by Outflow that provides employment opportunities for people with employment barriers. Catapult is the company doing the renovations on the Princess Street building that will house the Catapult Cafe and Studio.
“They have to come to work every day with people who are invested in their lives,” says McDonald about Catapult Industry. “That makes a difference. We’re seeing that work.”
The centre will also be home for the training programs that will facilitate the creation of the products for the cafe and studio.
Jayme Hall, the co-founder of Outflow, says the organization wants to support people in their journey of self-discovery through skill-building and creating products that can be sold in the studio.
“When you take time to be with people like that, there’s a relationship being formed and you can work on certain things [in their lives],” he says. “He’s building a table but he’s working on his own life. To me that’s key. We have a place to do that.”
McDonald says they’re actively seeking people with various skills and experience to teach people how to create products for the studio, which could include pottery, and hand-knit and canvas products like handbags.
They have hired people like Marie-Hélène Morell, the founder of Created Here, an online publication about the province’s arts and culture sector, to coordinate arts-related training and production.
They will also train people in the workshop on wood-working projects and products to be sold at the studio.
The ultimate goal, he says, is to give marginalized people the opportunity to develop the skills and confidence they need to create products people want to buy. It also helps them develop a more positive outlook on themselves and their prospects for a better life.
“We have the space [at the training centre] where we allow people to create and [the cafe and studio] for us to showcase and retail,” says McDonald. “It begins to shift the narrative of who the people are and for them to be paid for what they do.”
And of course, they’ll also serve a really good cup of coffee with Outflow participants becoming trained baristas at the 10-seat cafe.
They’ve sourced beans through a fair-trade producer in Colombia and Beamer’s Creek will roast branded Catapult light- and dark-roast blends at their production facility in Hampton.
Hall says the coffee shop that has its own brew is a natural extension of the culture of the organization and the community suppers it organizes.
“We drink a lot of coffee at our suppers,” he says. “We serve 600 a week on average. Almost everyone drinks coffee or tea at these gatherings. Wouldn’t it be neat if we could come up with a coffee or get it roasted?” says Hall.
The building has two floors that could accommodate offices, studio space and an expanded seating area for the cafe. It also has a rooftop that could eventually become a patio area.
For now, McDonald says they’re focusing on opening the smaller cafe and retail studio on the first floor of the building facing Princess Street.
The street itself is going through a period of significant regeneration, with organizations like the Saint John Theatre company next door also making significant investments that are dramatically improving the vitality of the neighbourhood.
“We see Catapult as being a really nice addition to the neighbourhood,” he says.