Social Café Changing Lives

In June, The Salvation Army Dunedin launched the Whakawhiti Exchange Social Café. The impetus for the café was a targeted response to the growing number of single men with unstable housing accessing Community Ministries services. Alongside this need, the café space provides a common space for kaimahi, and volunteers of the various Salvation Army teams based in the building to interact and connect. 

Community Ministries Director Captain Logan Bathurst explains the purpose of the endeavour. 

‘We wanted to create a welcoming and safe environment for people to come and be with others. Everyone has something of value that they can choose to exchange with others,’ he says. 

‘We launched the café with a loose vision because we decided to let our customers inform how we would develop the service,’ explains Logan. ‘We’ve now settled into a bit of a rhythm serving coffee and hot drinks from 10am and providing a hot lunch at no cost. People became regulars quickly and are often just happy to sit and chat in a warm and friendly environment.’ 

Soon after the decision was made to open the café, Logan was blown away by an unexpected phone call, resulting in what he describes as nothing short of God’s amazing provision. 

‘A local cafe was closing and looking for a way to dispose of a lot of their equipment and supplies. So a week before opening, we had two-month supply of coffee, extra coffee mugs, a deep fryer and a freezer full of onion rings and fries, among other things,’ says a grateful Logan. 

Whakawhiti Exchange Social Café essentially operates two services. The first is a wide-open door for the community, and the other a space for growing and developing people.  

‘We are providing opportunities for people to come and learn new skills as cooks and baristas while serving a community need. It’s amazing seeing people grow in confidence in such a short amount of time when they are given an opportunity and responsibility with appropriate support, says Logan. 

Meals are usually made from donated ingredients, using easy-to-prepare recipes that can be replicated at home on a smaller scale. When the donated supply of coffee ran out, Logan and the team moved to The Salvation Army’s Hamodava coffee beans. 

Logan takes care to explain that the café’s combined services align with The Salvation Army’s Te Kai Mākona (food security framework) Food Ladder approach: providing a hot meal for those who might otherwise go without (rung one); opportunities for capacity building and skill development and growth through cooking and food (rung two); and community building through a safe, warm and welcoming environment (rung three). 

So what does the future hold for Whakawhiti Exchange Social Café?  

‘We’re working on what sustainability looks like in this space,’ says Logan. ‘But we hope to expand into further opportunities to support people to grow, develop and change—all while learning the value of service and safety.’ 

Left to right: Michelle Malloch and Malachi Bathurst