Raleigh Café Builds Community Through Shared Meals

By Ashley Fredde

Since she was a kid volunteering astatine crockery kitchens and nutrient pantries pinch her parents, Maggie Kane has carried a question: “Why was I connected this side? Why americium I truthful lucky?” 

The invisible statement that separated those who served and those who received inspired her to create a abstraction wherever nary 1 has to guidelines connected either side. 

“My activity and life passion is moving pinch folks who are experiencing homelessness. I conscionable knew astatine an early age,” Kane said. “While successful assemblage astatine N.C. State, I started volunteering astatine a time shelter moving pinch folks connected nan thoroughfare and fell successful emotion pinch folks, and they fell successful emotion pinch me.”

During her volunteering she began to spot nan statement of separation much glaringly — particularly erstwhile it came to food.

“I realized that location are awesome places for group pinch money and awesome places for group without money, but location isn’t that abstraction for group to span those walls and barriers and spot each different arsenic human,” she said. 

She past discovered nan pay-what-you-can exemplary — wherever guests tin salary nan suggested price, salary what they could, lend to nan value of different diner’s repast aliases unpaid successful exchange. She remembered thinking, “If different places tin do this, if different towns tin do this, we tin too.”

So she recovered nan nearest cafe operating pinch nan model, successful Boone, and went to visit. F.A.R.M. Café, which opened successful 2012, welcomed her pinch unfastened arms, and she returned 5 aliases six times to study more. In 2018, Kane founded Raleigh’s first pay-what-you-can cafe, A Place astatine nan Table, wherever anyone tin come, eat and consciousness astatine home.

Volunteers stitchery extracurricular of A Place astatine nan Table successful downtown Raleigh. The cafe is Raleigh’s first pay-what-you-can cafe. Credit: Ashley Fredde

The café is easy to find astatine 300 W. Hargett St. successful downtown Raleigh, pinch brightly colored chalk drawings covering nan sidewalk retired front. The storefront patio features respective pastel bluish bistro chairs and a achromatic and achromatic Open motion hanging from nan beforehand door. The beforehand antagonistic is warmly lit pinch pendant lights, and nan chefs activity conscionable beyond. 

The eating area brings caller meaning to farm-to-table, pinch murals of sunflowers successful summertime skies. There are tables of each sizes, each dressed up pinch a mini vase filled pinch flowers.  

Not conscionable group connected nan streets

One of nan recommendations Kane first put into action was creating a organization advisory committee of group pinch acquisition of nutrient insecurity and homelessness, and group who activity pinch that population. The organization advisory committee helped make informed decisions connected A Place astatine nan Table’s creation and menu.

What took style was much than a café. It was a spot wherever a basking repast comes pinch things that are harder to find: dignity, relationship and a chance to beryllium astatine nan aforesaid table.

“People really request each different successful life. Life is difficult successful itself, and if we don’t person organization successful each other, past what do we have?” Kane said. “It’s very easy to only beryllium astir nan group that look for illustration you, consciousness for illustration you, touch for illustration aliases smell for illustration you and are successful your aforesaid circles, but we study truthful overmuch from group who are different than us.”

That relationship tin thief dispel immoderate assumptions made astir those experiencing lodging aliases nutrient insecurity, according to Kane. 

“Food insecurity, lodging insecurity looks for illustration truthful galore things, and it is not conscionable group connected nan streets,” she said. “We spot everyone, and honestly nan mostly of folks that we spot who are nutrient insecure are paycheck to paycheck. They are not surviving outside. They’re nan moving poor.”

Credit: Ashley Fredde

Looking astir nan café filled pinch nan hum of speech and nan lukewarm smell of homemade breakfast, Kane took a infinitesimal and began to place different people’s circumstances. From a worker who mislaid their occupation astatine IBM and has aged retired of technology, a student astatine N.C. State moving respective jobs to spend schoolhouse and housing, a creator who spent his full life building his coating institution but can’t spend to unrecorded successful thing but a rooming house.

The circumstances tin vary, she said, but A Place astatine nan Table offers an opportunity for everyone — nary matter their economical inheritance — to link complete a shared meal. 

“It connects america all. Food is simply a tool. Food is nan 1 point that we each person successful common, truthful nutrient is simply a measurement for group to connect,” Kane said. “Food builds organization and builds relationships. People request food, and we’re astatine that point. The relationship portion — I request to opportunity that we besides request that. But much importantly, group request food.” 

Increasing need

That request tin beryllium seen successful nan increasing number of group successful statement for a meal. Before nan pandemic, nan café saw a 70/30 divided among patrons, pinch 70 percent paying nan suggested value and 30 percent paying little aliases volunteering. It has since flipped, pinch 75 percent of patrons paying little aliases volunteering and nan remainder paying nan suggested price, Kane said. 

Raleigh’s first pay-what-you-can cafe, A Place astatine nan Table, is pictured successful downtown Raleigh. Credit: Ashley Fredde

She contributed immoderate of nan alteration to accrued vulnerability and connection of mouth, nan remainder to increasing nutrient insecurity. A Place astatine nan Table has served complete 5,000 family meals since 2024, according to its website. Just this period it knowledgeable its busiest week successful nan almost 8 years it’s been open.  

“We cognize a batch of group are going to beryllium hurting. We cognize a batch of folks that are connected SNAP come, but we besides cognize location are a batch of group that don’t travel to america because they person benefits correct now,” Kane said. 

While benefits were restored successful afloat earlier this period aft a confusing backmost and distant tribunal conflict betwixt nan Trump management and several states who sued during nan national authorities shutdown, much impacts are looming. 

The Department of Agriculture has been directing states to instrumentality caller guidance arsenic portion of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into rule successful July. Some of those changes to SNAP see nan following:

• The precocious property limit for those who request to meet activity requirements was raised from property 54 to 64 for nan first clip for able-bodied adults without dependents. This intends older adults — who often struggle to find jobs — will request to find employment to qualify.
• Exemption for parents aliases different family members pinch a limited younger than 18 will beryllium changed to beryllium for families pinch personification nether 14 years old. 
• Exemptions were besides removed for bum individuals, veterans and young adults who were successful foster attraction erstwhile they turned property 18.

The mounting unit has prompted Kane and her squad to see 2 things. 

“We are trying to fig out, ‘How do we proceed to provender people, not move group away, but still beryllium present successful 3 years?’” she asked. “And I deliberation that that’s astir apt what a batch of group are talking about.”

Republish our articles for free, online aliases successful print, nether a Creative Commons license.