Richmond鈥檚 newest 鈥渘on-profit, social enterprise鈥� caf茅 is heading into its first summer with an eye on expanding its catering business.
Storeys Caf茅, located at 8080 Anderson Road near Richmond City Hall, launched last September. The caf茅 seats about two dozen people and is tucked beneath the 129 unit, 15-storey tower that houses folks from non-profit groups聽Turning Point, S.U.C.C.E.S.S, Tikva Housing, Coast Mental Health and Pathways Clubhouse.
The caf茅 operates as a non-profit whose goal is to assist recovering addicts staying at Storeys. Caf茅 operator, Turning Point, hopes to offer job training at the caf茅 to two people, at one time, who live in the Storeys building, which houses people with vulnerabilities, such as poverty, addiction, mental health problems and abuse. It has already helped two recovering addicts gain employment elsewhere on their road to recovery, according to Brenda Plant, executive director of Turning Point.
鈥淲e know that a big part of the success in recovering from addictions is to get re-engaged in the community and get employment skills. So we wanted a space where our clients, who are living in Storeys and participating in our comprehensive after-care program, would get hands-on employment skills,鈥� said Plant.
But more is expected from the caf茅, which is quickly gaining a foot hold in the local market, especially with non-profit workers at Storeys and bureaucrats at city hall (even city councillors are using the caf茅 for meetings).
Meanwhile, Plant is eyeballing a few nearby developments to target construction workers as potential customers.
Plant鈥檚 sister Marnie Plant is Turning Point鈥檚 special projects manager who hopes to launch a successful catering service out of the cafe.
鈥淧eople have shown a lot of excitement around the catering. The cooking here has been great and we鈥檝e put together a new menu for catering,鈥� said Marnie.
The target clientele is small businesses and organizations hosting community events.
The menu is no frills, simple and healthy. It includes sandwiches ($8 each) and salads ($5) plus deserts ($2) and simple beverages. For example, there鈥檚 the vegetarian (chickpea avocado hummus with pesto, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and Swiss cheese) and turkey club sandwiches that can be served with a beet and arugula salad and a lemon square.
By having clients work at the caf茅 it is hoped they can re-engage with the community 鈥� a vital process in the road to recovery, according to Turning Point鈥檚 model.
鈥淚f you can keep someone engaged for five years in (social) services at some level, the success rate goes up exponentially. Our units here are meant for people who will be here for 2-3 years with the idea that they would transition into (subsidized) housing, if they aren鈥檛 ready for market housing,鈥� said Brenda.
Presently, 10 Turning Point clients pay about $750 in rent each at Storeys, which is a considerable sum given their situation. Such a rate is only feasible for a small number of clients at Turning Point, which operates a number of recovery houses in the Lower Mainland, including two in Richmond (aside from Storeys). Brenda said with a profitable catering business, the society could subsidize the units to closer to welfare rates ($375). Marnie also wants to use some profits for back-to-work and volunteer programs.
Ironically the success at Storeys for Turning Point comes from a failure to get a new recovery house on Ash Street about 12 years ago.
Met with neighbourhood opposition Turning Point packed up its rezoning application and looked elsewhere. Brenda said it led to the unique, five non-profit society agreement at Storeys.
Symbolic of the years of political wrangling Storeys took to develop, Brenda has framed a number of bureaucratic reports in the caf茅.
鈥淪toreys is evidence that you can have an affordable housing development for some of the most vulnerable citizens across the street from city hall and there鈥檚 no increased risk for property crime or anything going on. That鈥檚 not to say there haven鈥檛 been police calls. 鈥owever calls to Storeys have gone down exponentially since opening,鈥� she said.
Brenda noted developments such as temporary modular housing on Elmbridge Way should provide similar benefits.
