“We were waiting for God to show us where to go,” Shayne said. “(Emerge co-founders) Kip Morris and Chris Adams reached out to us at the end of January about running Arise. We hadn’t thought about starting a café and we liked the idea!”
Credit: Submitted Photo
Credit: Submitted Photo
Emerge Recovery & Trade Initiative, a nonprofit organization, is in the midst of renovations at the former location of the Greene County Career Center to build a one-of-a-kind addiction recovery center. According to its website, the center helps those in their recovery programs by providing the necessary life and work skills to establish new career paths and thrive in today’s job market.
Greg, who has more than 25 years of experience as a chef, has reached eight years in long-term recovery.
Elaine Bonner, director of philanthropy at Emerge, explained that the 200,000-square-foot campus that sits on 45 acres houses several different entities including the nonprofit’s offices, three for-profit businesses, GED classes and outpatient programming. The nonprofit has plans to hold a ribbon cutting on June 16 at 9 a.m. followed by a community open house from noon to 6 p.m. for its men’s recovery housing section. Bonner said the men’s housing is phase one with more housing in the works.
Bonner said over 100 people work on the Emerge campus. The new restaurant provides breakfast and lunch options to those on campus as well as the public. The restaurant is not an official part of the nonprofit operation. The press release stated it is privately owned by Morris and Adams.
Arise Café will have daily and weekly specials in addition to the menu offerings Monday through Friday. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Folks will be able to order online through the TOAST app and pick up their orders,” Shayne said. “We are also working on having delivery options.”
The daily breakfast menu features a variety of breakfast sandwiches and wraps including a steak, egg and cheddar sandwich on a pretzel bun and a breakfast burrito filled with eggs, cheese, peppers, onions, sausage and home fries.
“Each of these are sure to satisfy your hunger,” Shayne said. “Our lunch menu features a variety of sandwiches, including the Cuban with beer braised pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese and pickles with a spicy mustard sauce on our toasted Panini bread. We also have great salads, like our Arise Power Salad and house made soups. Our sides — like our hand cut fries and macaroni and cheese — are all homemade. We will have daily and weekly specials along with some sweet treats.”
According to the release, the café plans to offer evening and weekend hours. Catering is also available onsite and offsite.
“This place is going to be a central hub for the folks working here, living here and coming here to help, whether it be mentors, sponsors, volunteers or people in recovery,” Shayne said. “This is going to be a place to gather for a lot of activity that can show off what God can do. People coming through here will have all sorts of options.”
For more information about the café, visit www.thearisecafe.com.
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