Community Cafe: A place that CARES (Connection, Awareness, Resources, Education, Support)

Project Summary:

The Charleston Community Cafe Project is a 18-month community science initiative on Charleston’s West Side, developed in partnership with Thriving Earth Exchange, Aspire Achievement Project, and NEW WV. The project transformed a local cafe into a “vibrant hub” for resilience, aimed at addressing food insecurity, economic stress, and health disparities through the CARES framework (Connection, Awareness, Resources, Education, and Support).

Research & Work Conducted

The project utilized Participatory Action Research, bridging the gap between academic expertise and lived experience. Community members collaborated with a Social Scientist and an Agricultural Expert to identify local priorities. The work progressed from scoping community needs to evaluating data-driven solutions for urban farming and social support. Key activities included monthly “Community Cafes”—culturally respectful gatherings for collective problem-solving—and hands-on workshops focused on soil testing, sustainable gardening, and financial literacy.

Project Outputs:

Results & Outcomes

● Agricultural: Participants gained technical mastery in urban agriculture, conducting soil quality assessments to ensure safe, high-yield food production. This increased the community’s capacity for self-sufficiency.

● Social Science: The project successfully identified barriers to participation and improved science literacy through informal dialogue with experts. It fostered a robust peer-support network, enhancing the psychosocial resilience of residents.

● Engagement: The project successfully reached over 600 households. Large-scale events, such as the Westside Farm-to-Table Dinner, engaged scores of neighbors, while smaller, intensive internships supported women in recovery through vocational training in hospitality and agriculture.

By integrating scientific rigor with community leadership, the project established a scalable model for urban resilience that empowers residents to lead their own recovery and growth.

Community Impact:

The Charleston Community Cafe project has generated profound community impact across three primary areas: health and food security, social recovery, and economic empowerment.

1. Health & Food Security

● Nutritional Literacy: The cafes serve as educational hubs where residents learn to grow their own nutritious food and understand the importance of a balanced diet.

● Scientific Dialogue: By facilitating informal conversations between researchers, physicians, and community members, the project has directly improved local health and science literacy.

● Direct Support: In 2025 alone, the Community Cafe – Pay it Forward Initiative served 11,862 meals, providing fresh, farm-to-table food to the community.

2. Social Recovery & Resilience

● Safe Spaces: The cafes offer marginalized groups and those in recovery a safe, “sober-vibe” space for inclusion and mental health support, featuring activities like open mic nights and trivia.

● Changing the Narrative: The project helps “heal the community” by re-integrating women in recovery into public spaces, allowing neighbors to see the transition from active addiction to healthy sobriety.

● Peer Networks: Using the CARES framework, the initiative has fostered stronger connections and peer support networks, enabling residents to share experiences and collectively solve local problems.

3. Economic & Workforce Development

● Vocational Training: Through the ReIntegr8 program, women in long-term recovery participate in 14-week rotating internships, gaining marketable skills in hospitality, barista work, catering, and agriculture.

● Revitalization: Backed by American Rescue Plan funds, the project transformed the outside dining area of a local restaurant space into a productive farm to table enterprise, contributing to the city’s broader economic growth.

● Youth Engagement: The project has spin-offs like the Westside Coffee Collective, which teaches local students the science and marketing behind coffee roasting.

Acknowledgements:

Special thanks to Thriving Earth Exchange, Aspire Achievement Project, City of Charleston, Westside Together, NewWV, Reimagine Appalachian & League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.

Future Plans: 

The work in Charleston, WV will continue and partnerships will increase with the support of local, state and federal partners.

About the Community

The Charleston, West Virginia, community is characterized by dozens of concerned citizens and organizations striving to improve the quality of life for all residents.  It is a city of around 48,000 people, featuring an ample open space on the river owned by the city where events are held, called Magic Island. Community Cafés will focus primarily on Charleston’s “Westside,” home to roughly 15,000 residents. Because of the small size, there are numerous opportunities for diverse individuals to connect, a mix of different economic backgrounds, and easier access to lawmakers.  The community strongly believes in self-determination – making changes in one’s life and self-responsibility, seeking to become a self-sustaining, healthy community.  The Community Cafés have been around for a few years. Agencies such as Wild, Wonderful, Healthy Westside (contracted through the Center for Rural Health) shared a community framework with hopes of introducing to the community in a comfortable way. 

To learn more about the Wild, Wonderful, Healthy Westside, please go to: Wild, Wonderful & Healthy Charleston West Side REVIVE – The Center for Rural Health Development

About the Project

The project aims to transform the Community Café into a vibrant hub that fosters unity, empowerment, and self-sufficiency. By increasing attendance and productivity, the Cafés will provide a safe space for collective problem-solving and engagement. Through informal settings, this project will help community members build resilience skills such as problem-solving, conflict resolution, and stress management techniques while fostering peer support networks where they can share experiences and offer advice.

Using the CARES framework (Connection, Awareness, Resources, Education, Support), this project  will foster connections through networking events, collaborative projects, and open dialogue. Regular updates and informational sessions will raise awareness about community issues, resources, and opportunities, ensuring access to the tools needed for self-sufficiency. Hands-on workshops will focus on gardening, improving soil quality, soil testing or sustainable food practices, financial literacy, wellness, and personal development that will further enhance community capabilities, supported by other community programs and peer organizations.

Recognizing the importance of geological factors in food security, the Cafés will address issues like soil quality, urban land use, and sustainable agricultural practices. By collaborating with an agricultural expert or educator specializing in soil health and food production, this project aims to empower the community with the knowledge and skills for sustainable farming. This will be complemented by a social scientist who will study interactions, identify barriers, and help develop actionable solutions. 

The project will gather qualitative and quantitative data to measure the Cafés’ impact. The social scientist will track community participation, perceived barriers, and effectiveness of interventions, while the agricultural expert will assess soil quality improvements in various areas, crop yields, and adoption of sustainable practices. Participant feedback will further refine the program and inform future efforts.

Working closely with local leaders, residents, businesses, and under-resourced groups, the project will ensure the Cafés address the community’s needs and interests. Curated monthly resource lists, communication strategies, and inclusive engagement will keep members informed and connected.

By documenting successes and challenges, the Cafés will serve as a model for similar initiatives in other communities, demonstrating the power of community-driven actions to effect large-scale change.

Timeline and Milestones

The project is expected to run for approximately 18 months. Below is an outline of key activities:

• Project scoping – Sept 2024 – Jan 2025
• Evaluate the priorities of the community by reviewing the list of concerns provided by community members during past Cafés- Jan 2025 – March 2025
• Recruiting and onboarding a volunteer Social Scientist and Agricultural Expert – April 2025 – June 2025 
• Create an engagement plan at the Cafés to have the community move toward workable solutions June 2025 – August 2025
• Identify and implement one shared solution August 2025 – October 2025
• A final report will be presented at Community Café Convening by the end of the project’s final month October 2025 – December 2025

Community Leaders

Dr. Octavia Cordon, Ed.D was born and raised in New York City and later migrated to Charleston, West Virginia approximately 20 years ago. She is a mother of 4, friend to many and a community advocate. She also owns her own business, Phat Daddy’s.

Octavia has spent the last decade of her career working in education, early intervention, and community outreach. Coming from a big city like New York, her goal was to bring her family to a new environment that would offer a safer alternative to what she experienced in NYC.  West Virginia offered a slower pace her family was looking for to raise her babies at the time. 

Since moving to West Virginia, Octavia has volunteered in many spaces as well as served on many boards including KCS Pre-K. She has obtained her Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from WVSU, Master’s in organizational management from Ashford University and Doctorate in Education, Specialization in Curriculum & Instruction from Capella University.

Hi I’m Azelah Cordon; I was born in New York and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. I have worked closely with my mom on many endeavors since childhood. I am currently a student at Mountwest Culinary School. I enjoy giving back to the community, just like my mother. I firmly believe that it’s not what you know but who you know. So I love meeting new people and making connections, and seeing how I can be beneficial to those I’m around. I look forward to growing our Community Cafes, which will create swift change within our community.

Mavery Davis is a husband to Chamear and father to four children—Amaree, Averi, Amir, and Aiden, affectionately known as the A-Team. These roles are his primary responsibilities and greatest joy. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) dedicated to building community wealth, Mavery serves as Director of Lending for New Economy Works WV/Seed Commons, supporting cooperative businesses in achieving their goals. Mavery is also the founder of the Financial Literacy Bootcamp, teaching financial basics and the psychology of money, particularly to youth. Recognized as a Top 40 under 40 Black CPA by the NSBCPA (2021) and a Hometown Hero by WV Can’t Wait (2022), Mavery holds degrees in accounting from West Virginia State University and Strayer University. In addition to his professional work, he is an adjunct professor, a board member of multiple organizations, and a community organizer committed to collective prosperity.

Community Scientist

Joshua Lohnes is a broadly trained human geographer well versed in theories of development, political ecology, and food studies. He serves as a research assistant professor in the department of geology and geography at WVU advancing questions related to agri-food systems governance with an emphasis on the political economy of nutrition assistance programs. His PhD dissertation The Food Bank Fix: Hunger, Capitalism and Humanitarian Reason (2019) drew on a multi-sited institutional ethnography of emergency food networks in West Virginia to uncover the relationships between the state, private businesses and the nonprofit sector that maintain feeding lines in place and linked across space. He is building on this work to continue to study the moral, political, and economic place of expanding humanitarian food networks across the world and how these might fit within broader debates about sustainable food futures.

Josh directs the work of the Food Justice Lab at the Center for Resilient Communities and offers support to the Food System Development and Community Economies Labs. He is actively engaged with local, national, and international coalitions that seek to advance the right to food through principles of food sovereignty and food justice. He is passionate about popular education in the Freirean tradition of critical pedagogy and committed to participatory action research that advances more just and sustainable economic systems.

Community Science Fellow

Lora Davis is the Technical Project Manager for the Water Power Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She lives in Knoxville, TN, with her husband and their two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Before moving to Knoxville, Lora spent most of her life in the DC metro area. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She is pursuing a Master of Science in Energy Policy and Climate at Johns Hopkins University.  Her interests include affordable clean energy, workforce development, advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. In her free time, Lora enjoys knitting, crocheting, and volunteering. Before transitioning into project management, she worked as an administrative assistant in the Biosciences division and taught middle school math.

Westside Together

The Westside Collaborative is a growing network of community partners and resident leaders working together to provide increased opportunities for families, youth and small businesses on the Westside.

NEW WV

To provide support and finance for self-governing co-op businesses in communities experiencing economic extraction.

Risen City/Step By Step

Step by Step is dedicated to people working together to achieve their dreams in kindred communities across Southern West Virginia through dialogue, education and the arts, wellness, local leadership and resources, and service.

City of Charleston

Charleston, West Virginia government under the leadership of Mayor Amy Goodwin works for the community. We are proud partners with the Westside and here to provide support with efficient government services to assist residents living, recreational, work, and business needs.

ASPIRE 

To foster successful young adults and create healthier communities.