Affordable KC eatery, Thelma’s Kitchen, uses catering to ‘fill the void’
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to Thelma’s Kitchen, a nonprofit community cafe on Kansas City’s Troost Avenue that specializes in offering affordable meals and giving back to the community.
Like other businesses, they were forced to shutter their doors, cutting off a lifeline to many.
But during the lockdown, catering became a crutch for the business when the cafe couldn’t host the community. Now, it supports their affordable lunches by serving different businesses in Kansas City, allowing the operation to reopen last July and giving the nonprofit an income stream even as grant funding becomes uncertain.
“When things started looking a little different and we couldn’t have community in the cafe, we had to find another way to bring in money,” said head chef Natasha Bailey.
She said she’s thankful for the support catering gives, as it subsidizes the cost of running the restaurant.
“The way grants have looked now, we didn’t have to rely so heavy on it, you know, because we already had another action in place to kind of fill that void,” Bailey said.
The catering is run from the basement of the Troost building, while the second floor provides resources like rent and utility assistance, group and individual therapy, and a foster grandparent program.
The catering doesn’t cover everything. They were notified Monday morning that they secured an AmeriCorps grant to continue the fostering program, said Bailey.
The foster grandparents mentor kids in schools and programs, like Operation Breakthrough, across the street from the restaurant.
“When you come in here into the cafe, it might just seem like you’re getting lunch, but you’re really feeding into the community. So, that’s why it’s like more than a meal and every little bit helps,” she said.
Changed menu, same mission
The restaurant first opened 7 years ago as a pay-what-you-can cafe, meaning those with extra would donate to cover the meals of other patrons. It closed in March of 2020, reopened about a year ago, and developed a renewed business model along the way.
“When we initially started out, we were heavy on the pay-it-forward, using that language, but we’ve kind of matured into more of an affordable eating place,” said Bailey.
Pay-it-forward put unneeded pressure on the community to donate, which led to fewer customers, she said.
“We just needed a way to find a balance to where we weren’t losing everything to the point where we were going to have to close, and able to actually be effective and still be able to help the community,” said Bailey.
They restructured the menu to have items available for everyone with prices ranging from $1 to $15, she said. Every kid’s meal is $2.
“Everybody doesn’t want to ask for help. Everybody doesn’t want a handout. So we try to make it structured to where you have a choice in how you want to come in, and how you want to eat, and how you want to kind of do this,” said Bailey.
They also create tokens that can be used for $15 worth of menu items. The tokens let customers in need preserve their dignity, she said.
“There’s no stipulations. You just come in, get what you want,” said Bailey. “The thing that’s good about the token is it gives people dignity and the freedom to be able to make a choice on what they get, and I think that’s really important.”
The tokens also build conversation, she said. Community partners of Thelma’s Kitchen buy them and pass them out, creating a “no questions asked” system, said Bailey.
“It’s more than just the meal, you know. We’re actually able to have an impact on the people that come in,” she said.
Now that they’ve reopened, the cafe’s mission is to transform Troost Avenue from a dividing line to a gathering place through community.
“We might be on the dividing line, but we’re not divided. We work every day to be together and build something that’s lasting,” said Bailey.
