The Ridgeland Church Creates an All-Embracing Neighborhood Cafe
Above left, Pastor Jared Richey with Ridgeland Cafe Manager, Macy Richey; right, cafe seating area.
Ridgeland Church, part of the Church of Nazarene, is a community of around 100 neighbors with roots in the southwest collar suburbs of Chicago dating back to 1926. Today, they remain in the same communities and are opening an all-embracing neighborhood cafe in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Ridgeland Cafe’s manager, Macy Richey shares her thoughts on their new community space.
“The Ridgeland Cafe started from our church’s mission to love our neighborhoods. We realized that although we live in a densely populated area, there are very few places for people to meet, work, or relax. So we set out with the desire to create a space with free coffee and tea where our neighbors could gather, work remotely, meet up with friends, or grab a quick pick-me-up either before a day at work or after a long day.
Our goal was to create a non-transactional space that let our neighbors know that they are loved, cared for, valued as they are–and that if they ever needed anything from a community we would be here for them. In addition to creating a space for our neighbors, we also wanted to create a space for the parents and guardians who are connected with our community daycare and preschool facility that is open Monday through Friday.
However, for us there needed to be more than just creating a space. We believed that what we were offering in the space mattered. Since we were trying to love our neighborhoods with the Ridgeland Cafe in our neighborhood we wanted the operation of the cafe to also make a difference in loving neighborhoods around the world. For us, this meant reaching out to Equal Exchange to see what we could do to make this happen. After working with Equal Exchange in the past we knew the care, sustainability, and thoughtfulness that Equal Exchange puts into their products and relationships with farmers and co-ops.
We have been so encouraged by working with the Equal Exchange team to accomplish our vision and explore what it means for the Ridgeland Cafe to be an education center for the alternative trade structure that Equal Exchange offers and is continually creating. As a team, we have learned so much about all Equal Exchange does, how we can be a part of it as well as how we can encourage other individuals and organizations to be involved. Through our partnership, we hope we can make a difference in lives around the world and in Chicagoland.
After many months of work and collaboration, we were excited to be able to open up the Ridgeland Cafe at the beginning of May 2022; and it has been wonderful to connect with and provide the space for dozens of our neighbors and families in a few short weeks. By this coming fall, we’re excited to be expanding our vision for the cafe to highlight and promote the arts alongside the incredible mission of Equal Exchange. Our hope is that we are able to host open mic nights, art shows, poetry and storytelling nights, and screenings for local high school students involved in film.
The Ridgeland Cafe is open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm and we are blessed to be 100% volunteer staffed and operated. We are ready to welcome, create space, and serve whoever walks in our doors! It is only the beginning for us and we cannot wait to continue to love our neighborhoods locally but also help pour into and love neighborhoods around the world.”
Above left, Ridgeland Cafe to-go cup; middle, cafe volunteer Margaret Cicuto; right, wooden ‘Proudly Serving Equal Exchange’ sign.