Café Reconcile supports its out-of-work alumni

By Beth Donze
Photos courtesy of Cafe Reconcile

Although it’s been closed to the public since March 17, Café Reconcile, the locally acclaimed lunch spot at 1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., has tenaciously kept its kitchen open to prepare complimentary take-away meals for its graduates and their families every Thursday for the last month.

But Café Reconcile, which in normal times trains young people, ages 16 to 24, for careers in the hospitality industry, is offering its alumni more than just a weekly meal.

In mid-March, upon learning it would be unable to welcome a new group of students to the program, Café Reconcile refocused its attention on meeting the spiritual and material needs of alumni whose once-steady jobs in the hospitality industry had been decimated by the coronavirus.

“Within about 24 hours we did an almost complete pivot and made all of our case management and wrap-around services remote,” said Kathy Litchfield, program director.

Litchfield said the Café Reconcile alumni identified several areas of pressing need: help with filling out unemployment insurance and SNAP applications; connecting or reconnecting with mental health support; guidance in finding short- and long-term employment options; and in-kind assistance to cover the needs of daily living.

“In the last five weeks, we’ve given away, in direct support to our young people, about $22,000 so that they can access basic necessities like food and diapers while they wait for their other benefits to come in,” Litchfield said.

First-time unemployment

Following up with alumni is nothing new at Café Reconcile, whose mission has always included making its staff available to graduates, who number about 1,900 since the non-profit was founded 20 years ago through the vision of Jesuit Father Harry Tompson. What has changed since the lockdown, however, is the level of need.

In just five weeks, Litchfield and her staff have conducted a dizzying 1,200 remote sessions to help about 200 alumni navigate the crisis situation created by the pandemic.

“To offer some context, Reconcile typically sees about 500 alumni contacts per year for 200 alumni – or about two touches over the course of 12 months,” Litchfield said. “So, in the last five weeks, we’ve done about 18 months’ worth of case management. (About 200) young people are getting upwards of six contacts apiece in just five weeks. What that’s telling us is that the need is very, very high and it’s ongoing.”

The remote counseling sessions, which are conducted via social media, phone calls, FaceTime and daily text messaging, is provided by Litchfield and three other Café Reconcile staffers. Their hats include mental health manager, social worker, support service coordinator and unemployment program assistant.

By far the biggest need has been helping alumni fill out cumbersome applications for unemployment insurance and SNAP – more commonly known as food stamps – Litchfield said. To date, Café Reconcile staff has helped 53 alumni file for unemployment.

“The vast majority of our young people have been or were working in the hospitality industry, so almost all of them have been laid off,” Litchfield said, noting how she and her staff are suddenly back in touch with alumni they hadn’t seen or heard from in many years.

“The reason we haven’t heard from them (until now) is because they have been gainfully employed; they’ve been working steadily, making good money,” Litchfield said. “They’ve been out of touch with us because they haven’t needed us – which we think is great – and now they’re back in touch because they do need us, they need some back-up and support.”

Immediate needs addressed

On the meals front, more than 25 alumni are picking up the complimentary “Meals of Hope” prepared each Thursday in the Café Reconcile kitchen of chef Eugene Temple.

“The last two Thursdays have also been gift-card distribution days,” Litchfield said.

The kitchen staff also cooks Meals of Hope for the Greater New Orleans (GNO) Caring Collective, which delivers meals and prescriptions to out-of-work hospitality workers so they can continue to quarantine.

On Fridays, Café Reconcile’s catering staff takes over the kitchen to help Second Harvest meet the recent spike in demand for meals in the wider community. That group of about 40 employees produces 1,600 meals each week to send to Second Harvest, Litchfield said.

Positivity reigns

The non-profit’s nimble shifting of gears – from training young people and running a restaurant, to providing emergency outreach during a pandemic – has meant that none of Café Reconcile’s paid staff of about 50 has been laid off or has had their hours reduced, Litchfield said.

“What has struck me, but not surprised me, about the folks who I have the privilege of working with is how quickly they not only put their own needs aside during this crisis, but pivoted how we do our work every day to a completely different format to put our young people and their needs first,” Litchfield said.

The program director has also been moved by the upbeat spirit of alumni, the oldest of whom are now in their mid-30s. Instead of encountering despair, she has seen the opposite: gratitude and relief.

“The overwhelming feeling of joy and connectedness that has come, during a time where we’re all disconnected, has been really reaffirming,” she said.

Café Reconcile alumni can pick up complimentary Meals of Hope for themselves and their families at the restaurant every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Alumni who are in need of support are encouraged to call the hotline at (504) 934-1642.

The fundraising campaign “Now More Than Ever” has been launched to assist Café Reconcile graduates during the ongoing crisis. To donate, visit www.cafereconcile.org. Donation suggestion: Prepare a meal at home for your family and donate the amount you would have spent on a take-away meal to Café Reconcile.

In addition to Second Harvest and the GNO Caring Collective, Café Reconcile also partners with the Andrea Miller Foundation, Sysco and Lula Distillery.