The Kansas City Community Kitchen might be a soup kitchen but it looks like anything but. At this kitchen the greeters and servers treat visitors just like a typical casual dining restaurant.
The goal is simple, make homeless people feel like a part of the community and not just another statistic.
"They're treating me good, like they don't know I'm homeless." YES. #KCCK #NotJustASoupKitchen pic.twitter.com/BVgGxH2rQE
— NourishKC, formerly Episcopal Community Services (@ECS_KC) February 11, 2016
“We are trying to flip the photo of what a soup kitchen looks like,” Mandy Caruso-Yahne, director of community engagement at Episcopal Community Services, which runs the kitchen, told Upworthy.
The Kansas City Community Kitchen has been serving the community for 30 years. On Feb. 5, it re-opened with its new restaurant-style initiative that allows the homeless to “dine with dignity.”
“It’s different,” Brian Oglesby, a homeless man who dined at Kansas City Community Kitchen told The Kansas City Star. “They’re treating me good, like they don’t know I’m homeless.”
Special thanks to the group of The Pembroke Hill School’s freshmen who volunteered at the Kansas City Community Kitchen on Wednesday, October 14, 2015!
Posted by Episcopal Community Services (ECS), Heartland on Monday, October 19, 2015
Even the menu at this soup kitchen is something special. Recipes were created by executive chef Michael Curry, the owner of the Kansas City restaurant, Lil’ Bubba. Curry once lived in poverty and ate at soup kitchens before turning his life around.
Curry cooks a healthy menu that incorporates fresh foods. Diners even have the ability to recommend food they would like to try.
Here’s a great video from the Kansas City Star that highlights the great work this soup kitchen does every single day.
