If you’re after a good feed and a great coffee but you also want to support something worthwhile, Humble Pantry in Fremantle is the place to go.
Sitting pretty in the community hub at DADAA, which is in the Old Boy’s School on Adelaide Street, Humble Pantry is Fremantle’s first social enterprise and equal opportunity cafe.
What does that mean exactly? Glad you asked. Kieran and Karen, the husband and wife team behind the cafe, are providing employment, including training, to people with a disability or disadvantage.
They’ve already hired three employees who will spend the next few weeks working on various jobs around the cafe. Once they’re comfortable in the environment, Kieran and Karen will chat with each of them and their carers to figure out what they want to do and set some goals, be it barista training, customer service, events or something else entirely.
After about 12-18 months, they’ll take the opportunity to reassess and if the employee is ready to move on they’ve got a solid tick in the resume box and a good reference to boot; two things that plenty of us take for granted but can be pretty hard to come across for a lot of Australians. But that’s not all, Humble Cafe will actually work with other businesses to help land these guys a permanent job. Neat, right?
The cafe is dishing up tasty eats and smooth coffee in a beautiful heritage listed building which has been fit out by owner Karen who used to be an interior architect, so you can expect it to be as easy on the eyes as it is on the taste buds.
As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also exhibiting artwork created by people with disabilities and first up is Kieran’s aunt, Jane, who has an intellectual disability and has been a DADAA artist for the past decade. If your inner art-buff still isn’t satisfied, you can pop over to DADAA’s art gallery which is in the same building.
In case you’re not in the know, DADAA is an organisation helping to connect people with disabilities and mental illness with the arts. They have a range of programs and three creative hubs around Perth, with the Fremantle hub home to a gallery which hosts exhibitions throughout the year.
Want to do more good? Grab tickets to this art gala.
Image credit: Humble Pantry