Kinship Café Now OPEN!
(Rendering for the ThriveOn King building at 2153 N. MLK Drive)
Who is operating our café?
Shania Hutchins - Café Manager
Shania first started working in the food industry business at Tandem in 2017. Afterwards, she was a culinary supervisor for a senior living restaurant. She is excited to be on the Kinship team as she has a passion for helping others.
Nikki Danielson - Café Associate
Nikki first came to Kinship as a volunteer in August 2023 and then joined our Workforce team in January of 2024. She is excited to be on the Kinship team in a new way as she helps roll out our new café space.
Our Workforce Class
Mattie, Royalty, Lydia, Angel, Berta, Derrick, Evan, Ever, and Kylie have been working hard to prepare food for our café.
This café is made possible through our partnership with
ThriveOn Collaboration in the historic ThriveOn King building!
In addition to bringing healthy food options to the dynamic community hub, we will also bring to the table an innovative workforce training program for residents encountering barriers to employment.
What does this mean for Kinship?
We are so excited for this opportunity to serve our community in a new way, but this will not replace any of our existing locations. Our café, which will be open down the street from our administrative offices, will simply add another layer to our programming that operates alongside our Food Center and Urban Farm locations.
Why a café?
Food has always been the lens through which we look to address the needs in our community, as it has the power to bring people together. We are building upon our mission pillar PROSPER, where we aim to create stability and economic opportunity for everybody.
The café at ThriveOn King provides an opportunity to explore an emerging area of interest aligned with Kinship’s five-year strategic plan, to launch a food-based social enterprise. It is an extension of our innovative healing-based Workforce program which provides paid work experience for community members who encounter long-term barriers to employment.
What will it serve?
Expected to open later this fall for breakfast and lunch, Monday through Friday, the café will offer a welcoming dining experience, providing neighborhood residents nourishment, fellowship, and an opportunity to grow and thrive together. Its scratch cooking offerings will include hot sandwiches, fresh and healthy bowls and salads, and grab-and-go options, as well as barista service.
Through food, we can transform all our lives.
“Neighbors have consistently named access to nutritious food and access to jobs among their highest priorities. Thanks to this arrangement, the collaboration can fulfill another promise to Bronzeville area residents.”
-Greg Wesley, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
Food has the power to gather individuals into community.
What is ThriveOn King?
ThriveOn King, which is located at 2153 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is an iconic former department store that is being transformed for community, residential, and commercial use. The efforts are made possible through the ThriveOn Collaboration which is led by Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), and Royal Capital.
The goal of ThriveOn Collaboration is to invest in health, education, social, and economic wellness of Milwaukee’s Halyard Park, Harambee and Brewers Hill neighborhoods and beyond.
With a mission that aligns so closely with our own, we were thrilled to say yes to being a partner with them!
We are so thankful to GMF for providing $350,000 in grant funding over two years to support Workforce training at the café as a
long-term investment in cultivating stability and employment.
Together, we can create a community where are all can be nourished, belong,
prosper.
In the news!
Check out these articles written about the work and preparation we are doing to be ready for the café.
Stay tuned!
Thanks to all of you for being our biggest advocates and amazing supporters over the years. Taking on this endeavor is new territory for us, but we are excited to explore with you what it means for us to have an operating café!
We will continue to update this webpage with more information as we go forward, such as staffing, hours, menu, and when the café will officially open.
We are excited to try this new endeavor with you!
Photo Credit: Jim Moy
We are honored to have been chosen for this opportunity and are thankful to our
generous partners.
WAYS to GET INVOLVED
