Community Cafés and Soup Kitchens
The Everyday Café formerly the Fort Myers Soup Kitchen is our new model for providing emergency food to our community. This new approach for long-term hunger elimination changes the mindset of those who serve and those being served, as well as the physical spaces and delivery model created for the distribution of food. We now provide people choices in emergency food in a community cafe setting that also provides opportunities to talk with on-site Case Coaches who will help individuals and families address the underlying issues causing hunger. Through the development of neighborhood storefront cafés, we are able to provide food where hungry people live and work, and reach families at points of contact rather than expecting them to come to the traditional soup kitchens and pantries. The choice café model provides dining that includes choices in food such as nutritious salads, fruit, desserts and a compassionate, communal atmosphere where people can sit down, eat a meal, and be introduced to resources leading to positive change.
Since opening the newly transformed cafés, customers report a more positive feeling and respectful atmosphere. In addition to increased accessiblity through expanded hours and on-site case management, the cafe provides volunteer opportunities for customers and other community members fostering an overall sense of community cooperation.
The café is no longer a soup kitchen but a community hub with a café and community area offering educational classes like financial & homebuyer literacy and our parenting series, Baby University. A child play area now offers parents a more welcoming environment and computer work stations for employment search and preparation are available as well. Case Coaches immediately identify & act on issues contributing to a customer's food insecurity and our Homeless Concierge provides services to the more chronic homeless such as providing hygiene products, mail service, ID replacement and providing referrals and follow-up services. The embedded Everyday Café services create an atmosphere that offers tangible opportunities for individuals and families to achieve long-term, sustainable hunger solutions.
Experience the transformation at either of our Everyday Cafe locations:
"The Everyday Marketplace is an innovative way to feed people who may have never known what it's like to be hungry — the 'new hungry' — and are just looking to sustain themselves so they can get back on their feet. Congratulations to CCMI. Continue the innovation." ~ The News-Press
