As we are wrapping up our time in Phoenix, Justin and I are looking forward to having the chance to focus again on researching ideas and business strategies. I recently had the chance to email with a person who had worked at Sisters of the Road cafe in Oregon. SOTR offers tasty meals (so I hear) for a set low price, and also has a voucher program set up as a way for people or churches or whomever to be able to give a "handout" to persons in need of a meal. Essentially, it is a gift certificate for one meal. I really liked this idea, and hope to use a similar approach.
SOTR is well-established, having been started in 1979 -- much older than the other establishments that we have been looking at. This makes me want to investigate their model further and see how it has gotten to where it is today.
Let the researching begin!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Recognizing Injustice
We are currently back in the southwest, exploring Phoenix, Arizona. This trip is not more prospecting for our future venture, rather it is us taking the opportunity to walk alongside some Mennonite youth as they have a chance to experience service learning. We are here with the Youth Venture program, and today was our first day of "working". We helped out with the lunch shift of one of the local chapters of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The clientele was mostly homeless and transient adults, and our job was to help clear the tables when a person was finished with their meal.
My interest in working with homeless persons was sparked when as a youth, I was involved in Youth Venture as a participant, and spent time working at a food pantry and soup kitchen. My interest took another huge step when I spent time with a program called Service Adventure (also through the Mennonite church) after high school. I worked in a program in the public schools of Albuquerque that enrolled and tutored homeless or transient children who had fallen behind in their schooling. That year solidified a passion for working for justice for the "least of these". I've had various other experiences since these times, and in each moment, I'm amazed at the economic injustice which exists so readily in our world.
But I have to be honest when I say that I was a bit turned off by the experience I had today at St. Vincent's. I felt like the large cafeteria had one purpose: to be a shelter where a person can eat a meal. The end. We were informed in our "training" that the interest is in getting people in-and-out. While many of the people know each other, the meal time is not supposed to be community-building. Places like SVdP absolutely have a place -- they serve hundreds of people a day. I simply feel more attracted to serving a person's humanity vs. their biology. It mirrors the question people often deal with when considering giving to charity -- should I give a little bit of money to lots of organizations, or all my money to one? Places like SVdP aim to respond to everyone's physical needs. My interest is in supplying a few persons needs, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual.
I appreciated my time working at Trinity House Catholic Worker in Albuquerque a couple years ago, where I often played hostess to persons on the one day per week when the house was open for breakfast, showers, and laundry. Most weeks we only had 3 or 4 people come in, but having the chance to sit down with them and hear their stories made we want to come back, week after week.
This is the vision that we have: intimate, deliberate, and sufficient.
My interest in working with homeless persons was sparked when as a youth, I was involved in Youth Venture as a participant, and spent time working at a food pantry and soup kitchen. My interest took another huge step when I spent time with a program called Service Adventure (also through the Mennonite church) after high school. I worked in a program in the public schools of Albuquerque that enrolled and tutored homeless or transient children who had fallen behind in their schooling. That year solidified a passion for working for justice for the "least of these". I've had various other experiences since these times, and in each moment, I'm amazed at the economic injustice which exists so readily in our world.
But I have to be honest when I say that I was a bit turned off by the experience I had today at St. Vincent's. I felt like the large cafeteria had one purpose: to be a shelter where a person can eat a meal. The end. We were informed in our "training" that the interest is in getting people in-and-out. While many of the people know each other, the meal time is not supposed to be community-building. Places like SVdP absolutely have a place -- they serve hundreds of people a day. I simply feel more attracted to serving a person's humanity vs. their biology. It mirrors the question people often deal with when considering giving to charity -- should I give a little bit of money to lots of organizations, or all my money to one? Places like SVdP aim to respond to everyone's physical needs. My interest is in supplying a few persons needs, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual.
I appreciated my time working at Trinity House Catholic Worker in Albuquerque a couple years ago, where I often played hostess to persons on the one day per week when the house was open for breakfast, showers, and laundry. Most weeks we only had 3 or 4 people come in, but having the chance to sit down with them and hear their stories made we want to come back, week after week.
This is the vision that we have: intimate, deliberate, and sufficient.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Silver City, part 2
The second part of this series revolves around our personal interest in starting a venture in Silver City.
The town seems diverse: copper mines provide jobs for a large sector of the population, art galleries and coffee shops crowd along Bullard St., Western New Mexico University is situated on the edge of town, etc. For a smallish town, the opportunities to meet different people seem abundant. And many are transplants themselves, moving by some sort of choice to the area. I like this -- transplants are, from my experience, more open to inviting others into their community.
Another long term interest of mine has been addressing hunger and poverty in a direct way. New Mexico, in comparison to the rest of the U.S., has the fourth highest rate of persons living at or below the poverty line (as of 2009). Poverty finds many ways of taking shape, and does not always immediately imply dire suffering. We didn't see homeless persons while we spent time in Silver. We didn't see persons sleeping on the street. I did get a chance to talk a little bit to a volunteer at a local twice-a-month food bank, and am interested in finding out more about their work and clientele. There may not be an incredible need for free-ish food as one might find in a metropolitan area, but we recognize that food insecurity knows no boundaries. We have long said that this venture needs to reflect the needs of the community in which it is established, and not create false assumptions of need. We are committed to making and maintaining networks in Silver City to find ways that we can best support the community. This will likely mean trips to the area before we even relocate. This may also mean moving to Silver and having a buffer time before opening any doors.
We know that there will be downsides to living in a relatively secluded area. Access to restaurant equipment, food distributors, etc. will be harder. There will surely be unforeseen obstacles that we'll encounter. But that's part of the journey, and if we can figure out ways to work through them, then super. If we can't, then we'll regroup and go from there.
So, for now, we're taking a lot of notes. Starting to make some connections, starting to do some more research...
Just as an aside, I hoping to make a weekly entry to this blog, simply letting you know more of our thoughts and ideas as we go. We look forward to continuing to hear your comments!
Peace!
The town seems diverse: copper mines provide jobs for a large sector of the population, art galleries and coffee shops crowd along Bullard St., Western New Mexico University is situated on the edge of town, etc. For a smallish town, the opportunities to meet different people seem abundant. And many are transplants themselves, moving by some sort of choice to the area. I like this -- transplants are, from my experience, more open to inviting others into their community.
Another long term interest of mine has been addressing hunger and poverty in a direct way. New Mexico, in comparison to the rest of the U.S., has the fourth highest rate of persons living at or below the poverty line (as of 2009). Poverty finds many ways of taking shape, and does not always immediately imply dire suffering. We didn't see homeless persons while we spent time in Silver. We didn't see persons sleeping on the street. I did get a chance to talk a little bit to a volunteer at a local twice-a-month food bank, and am interested in finding out more about their work and clientele. There may not be an incredible need for free-ish food as one might find in a metropolitan area, but we recognize that food insecurity knows no boundaries. We have long said that this venture needs to reflect the needs of the community in which it is established, and not create false assumptions of need. We are committed to making and maintaining networks in Silver City to find ways that we can best support the community. This will likely mean trips to the area before we even relocate. This may also mean moving to Silver and having a buffer time before opening any doors.
We know that there will be downsides to living in a relatively secluded area. Access to restaurant equipment, food distributors, etc. will be harder. There will surely be unforeseen obstacles that we'll encounter. But that's part of the journey, and if we can figure out ways to work through them, then super. If we can't, then we'll regroup and go from there.
So, for now, we're taking a lot of notes. Starting to make some connections, starting to do some more research...
Just as an aside, I hoping to make a weekly entry to this blog, simply letting you know more of our thoughts and ideas as we go. We look forward to continuing to hear your comments!
Peace!
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