How Wayne Metro’s Cafe Creates a Welcoming Space Where Folks May Least Expect It #DetroitFood
Wayne Metro and TechTown have launched Mission Cafe, an incubator for food businesses
A new cafe that doubles as an incubator for food-based entrepreneurs and a welcoming environment has quietly opened in the New Center area of Detroit.
Mission Cafe, at 7310 Woodward Avenue, opened just over a month ago and is the brainchild of the nonprofit Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency and TechTown Detroit, which teamed up to launch a space that both benefits the people who are seeking public assistance from the organization and the vendors brought on to sell their products on a rotating basis.
When visitors stop by Wayne Metro’s headquarters they’re greeted to a newly renovated 5,131 square-foot welcome center, featuring a cafe with a rotating menu of culturally relevant cuisine, coffee, and a dining space to for breakfast or lunch. Though the cafe is open to the public, thus far, the bulk of its customer base has been comprised of the building’s office workers and the people they support. Currently, six vendors operate out of the cafe: Faust Haus Roasting Co., GreenHouse Soups and Chili, Heauxlistic Juice Bar, Livy’s Sweet Rolls, Paradise Street Eats, and J&T’s Kitchen. The space was built out as part of a $1.1 million renovation of the welcome center that wrapped up in late 2023.
Leaders from Wayne Metropolitan and TechTown Detroit joined in a celebration noting the cafe’s opening on Thursday, May 9 along with Detroit Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan.
“The opening of the Mission Cafe inside Wayne Metro’s new welcome center is a great addition to the New Center neighborhood,” Duggan said in a prepared statement. “Wayne Metro already does a fantastic job of assisting members of the community most in need. Now they are helping to serve the community in a different way by offering delicious and healthy food options, as well as providing local entrepreneurs the opportunity to reach more people and grow their small business.”
Mia Harnos, who serves as Wayne Metro’s chief strategy and innovation officer, tells Eater that the cafe was years in the making. The organization moved its headquarters into the building around 2016 and wanted a create a space where clients seeking social services — a sometimes humbling or experience — would feel comfortable.
“We want our HQ to look like and feel like folks are going to walk in and be served with dignity, respect, and a high quality and safe environment,” says Harnos. Part of that vision included opening a cafe.
Mission Cafe joins a number food and drink options already in the New Center area, including the James Beard-nominated Baobab Fare, the popular Supino Pizzeria, and several coffee shops.
Harnos says the team came up with the format for the cafe based on staff feedback and eventually evolved into taking more of a socially driven incubating approach through a partnership with TechTown. TechTown is affiliated with Wayne State University and serves as a nonprofit entrepreneurship hub that provides education such as its Retail Boot Camp, support for small businesses through its SHOP Detroit program, and a sprawling co-working space. TechTown also administers the Hatch Detroit contest. Mission Cafe is TechTown’s first business incubator program specifically geared to food businesses.
The vendors aren’t required to pay rent to use the space. Instead, they’re tasked with bringing their products on-site already prepared and ready for sale, keeping the place clean, and staffing the cafe during their shifts. TechTown staff are available to help vendors with promotions, analyze sales trends, and connect them with coaching and its other resources.
Tabitha Ramos, along with her husband Juan, has operated J&T’s Kitchen catering company since 2020. The company already pops up at TechTown once a week with a menu of burrito bowls, tacos, egg rolls, and other comfort foods. About five weeks in at the Mission Cafe, she considers this new stream of business as a natural progression for the growth of her business.
Ramos tells Eater that she’s already seeing the impact of the cafe on the clients who walk in the door.
“I remember times in my life when I’ve had to apply for help through different avenues and I remember it being really tough. Like, you kind of feel like you’re walking in with your head down,” says Ramos. Her last time in the cafe, she says she noticed two women who ordered food and hung out for awhile. “From what I’ve experienced at Mission Cafe so far, they somehow have provided an atmosphere” to feel welcome.
Wayne Metro currently helps an estimated 75,000 residents who are low- to moderate-income throughout Wayne County connect with water affordability programs, assistance with property taxes, distributing meals to families experiencing food insecurity, housing services, and more.
Mission Cafe is at 7310 Woodward Avenue and is currently open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
from Eater Detroit - All
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