Inspiration Cafe Is Building A Socially Inclusive Community And Brewing A Fine Cup Of Coffee
MONCTON – Nathan Boulter works at the Inspiration Cafe, located in the basement of the Community Peace Centre, three days a week. He helps with cooking and cleaning for four hours at a time as he builds skills that will help him work more and not rely on social assistance.
“Before coming here, my budget was pretty tight. I had no entertainment budget, I had almost no clothing budget,” says Boulter, who spends most of his income from social assistance and disability benefits on food and rent.
Now he’s saving up for a new computer because his current one is “on the brink,” the Moncton native said.
Boulter is currently being trained by Head Barista Emma Blair, but he moves swiftly through the cafe, learning how to cook with Head Chef Junior Kalala or washing dishes.
“I’m pretty much the main dishwasher here. I’ve been helping with the food. I guess washing dishes is fine for me but having something else to do on the side would be great as well. It’s a learning process, you know,” he said.
Boulter lives in a subsidized apartment with two roommates through Alternative Residences Alternative, which supports those living with mental illness “who are doing really well,” he explained.
He has been living independently for seven years, volunteering at the United Way and Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), both at the Peace Centre, to fill his days.
Through the CMHA he was referred to the Inspiration Cafe, a new non-profit coffee shop and restaurant that trains and hires people struggling with mental health issues, poverty and employment barriers. The brainchild of United Way Executive Director Debbie McInnis, the cafe drew inspiration from similar initiatives across Canada. But it was mostly inspired by a previous project called At Home/Chez Soi. McInnis was part of the management team there.
At Home/Chez Soi focused on a peer-supported, housing first strategy for those struggling with mental illness and homelessness. During the project, part of a national research work by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, McInnis saw a common thread.
[We] heard a recurring theme over and over that people really want to be valued, they want to contribute to society, but they don’t always have the capacity to work full time. They would like to have that opportunity to be in a supportive, inclusive, environment that allowed them to work to the capacity that they could,” said McInnis.
But prejudices against those who are struggling with poverty, addictions, mental health issues and homelessness often make it hard for them to find work.
“You’ve heard it probably a hundred times, that people who are homeless or people who are living on the street were saying no one ever makes eye contact,” said McInnis. “No one really sees them as people…I learned a lot through that project about expectations and assumptions and perceptions that aren’t always correct.”
McInnis advocated to use leftover funding from At Home/Chez Soi to create Inspiration Cafe. She loves the idea of people being able to work to their own capacity.
“We want those who are easing back into the workforce or wanting to further their education to begin with us and then move on to other things,” she said.
Kalala and Program Manager Rachel Scoville are part of the team assigned to bring the idea to life. But the community also helped.
Local chefs like Ricky Bernard, the Executive Chef at the Casino NB, contributed their time and ideas. Front Porch Mercantile restored furniture that Inspiration Cafe bought at a low cost. Erika Lantz Design designed the cafe, and artist Jared Betts painted a mural on one wall. The cafe’s neighbour, Central United Church, provided the space rent-free until the cafe is up and going.
For the first cohort, Inspiration Cafe has two participants, including Boulter. They are referred to the cafe by organizations like Salvus Clinic and CMHA, and then assessed by a hiring committee that includes McInnis.
Participants are paid while in training to do everything from dishwashing to food safety to cooking techniques. They also learn to make beverages and serve customers. This way, participants won’t get bored and coordinators can know what kind of work they’re interested in.
The initiative also provides life skills training, which includes anger management, budgeting, writing a resume, setting goals, and preparing for a job interview. Scoville plans to provide this component in partnership with the John Howard Society’s Green Trade social enterprise.
Revenue generated by the cafe will fund the program and pay for staff wages, including those of the trainees.
Eventually, there will be four full-time-equivalent workers at the cafe as trainees continue to move on to other jobs and/or return to school. Coordinators are in talks to partner with NBCC’s culinary school and they plan to check in with restaurants to see what level of training they need in potential employees.
“We would like to keep them all here, but if we only do one session with the same people, then we’re only helping a minority of the people,” said Kalala.
With approximately 50 seats, the cafe offers home-style cooking and beverages from 8 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday. It serves beverages like chai, hot chocolate with home-made marshmallows, and kombucha. And aside from cookies, muffins and traditional breakfast dishes with eggs, it also serves “cultural specials.” One day that could be the Korean Bibimbap, another day it’s the Senegalese Mafe.
“On a monthly basis, we will target a country and then we make food from that country for the special,” Kalala said.
Boulter was mopping the floor midway through his shift. He said he hopes to stay at the cafe as a part-timer for as long as he can.
There are the perks the there are the cons, right? The perks are that I have a great day, and I’m busy and I’m being productive and so on. But the cons would be, like, my feet hurt after my shift,” he said, laughing. “I love it here. Everyone’s so friendly and everyone’s nice.”
Scoville said she hears from Boulter and other staff every day that they’re thankful to have a place where they feel like they belong.
“They come here just to have a place to go and to talk, to feel wanted, supported, connected – we feel like a little family in here,” she said.
“We’re teaching participants but they’re teaching us as well. We go through training about trauma and stuff like that, but they’re the ones showing us how we can help them,” Kalala added.
With the cafe newly opened, Kalala said it will take time for things to run smoothly.
“We’d like people to be patient with us especially when it comes to the menu and the food and time,” he said. “It’s going to take a while before we get it all figured out. But we see that as long as we’re willing to help the people, for us that’s what really matters the most. I think after maybe 10 participants, we’ll have an idea, and then we’ll be able to deliver the service faster, and then, the more [participants] the better.”
For McInnis and the team at Inspiration Cafe, the initiative is part of a multi-pronged approach to reduce poverty and homelessness, and fight the stigma related to mental health issues in Moncton. Aside from the life-skills curriculum, it doesn’t provide a cookie-cutter way of measuring success, but that’s okay because success looks different for everyone, McInnis said.
“For me, it’s just people coming to work every day. And being social and being willing to learn. Nathan is a great example,” she said. “It’s really watching him realize that he can do things that he thought he couldn’t and being willing to take that on, that’s a success.”