Cafe 458

I had the privileged of working at Cafe 458 in Atlanta, GA, for three years. Cafe 458 was founded in 1988 and was the first restaurant of its kind in the United states, and remains the only of its kind in Atlanta. The Cafe, a program of Samaritan House of Atlanta, is a restaurant for homeless men and women, serving lunch every weekday.

The idea behind The Cafe was and is simple: offer a good meal in an atmosphere of dignity, respect, and hope. Rather than a soup kitchen (a much needed institution), which might serve 300 meals to 300 people assembly-line style, the Cafe has always been intimate- 30-40 meals a day- with the emphasis on relationships. The Cafe has changed untold lives of homeless men and women, and those of countless volunteers, like myself. Just people sitting down over lunch, talking, building relationships, building trust--nothing too complex. I've heard homeless people say that we at the Cafe were the only people in their lives who would miss them if they weren't seen that day.

For the past several years, Cafe 458 has served a weekend brunch- and now weekend dinner- to paying customers, with all of the proceeds going back into the Samaritan House program. Their brunches have won numerous awards, and the Cafe recently underwent a makeover courtesy of
Turner Broadcasting's Movie and a Makeover. They've even got a Facebook page!

Go volunteer, it might change your life.