Good Food for a Good Cause
How one small Sacramento cafe is giving women a chance at success.
Tucked into a large concrete office building on Fourth Street and Capitol Mall in the heart of Downtown Sacramento, My Sister’s Cafe is located near a majority of the large state office buildings and is a favorite of many state workers. When a diner first walks into My Sister’s Cafe the simple aesthetic of the concrete office building, casual wear of the employees, and handwritten specials board may cause some diners to believe that My Sister’s Cafe is only a fairly average lunch spot for state workers.
But when you go up to the black and tan counter to order your food you will almost immediately notice the diverse Asian fusion menu and the seemingly minute detail that a high majority of the people working the counter are women. The reason for this is that the employees working at My Sister’s Cafe have been affected by domestic violence in some way. At the counter, you will also notice all of the purple flyers and brochures advertising one of the many outreach events for the cafe’s sponsoring organization, My Sister’s House. These flyers show one of the many purposes of My Sister’s Cafe: to provide outreach for My Sister’s House, an organization that assists women in the Asian and Pacific-Islander communities that are survivors of domestic violence.
The cafe was opened to battle one of the many the issues women face when they finally escape violent situations: gaining skills. When women have finally escaped their violent situations gaining skills was something these women needed so they did not have to return to their abusers. According to My Sister’s House executive director Nilda Valmores, opening a cafe was the best solution to assist women that have recently escaped a violent situation.
“We specifically serve Asian and Pacific Islander women,” Valmores said. “They’re immigrant women and children, which often means that we’re talking to them about getting jobs and getting on their feet. And there would often be this stumbling block because they wouldn’t be getting any work experience.”
Originally the cafe was going to be only a coffee shop, but the My Sister’s House board of directors decided to expand the menu when it became apparent that a coffee shop would not reflect the skill sets of the employees. Something all of the cafe’s future employees could quite literally bring to the table was their ability to cook the ethnic foods that Sacramento’s diverse population was craving. The idea of a cafe also allowed women escaping violent situations to build skills working with a medium they are comfortable in.
Considering that a majority of the women that work at My Sister’s Cafe are immigrant women, the cafe has some especially unique challenges.
“[One former employee] had a lot of child-care issues, and we let her bring her child here, and we took care of the child,” Valmores said. “We know that child care is a big issue. Because she was able to work here for along period of time, shows that she has sustainability power”.
This cafe also combats one of the main issues unique to immigrant women that have recently escaped violent situations: learning American customs and American customer service. In fact, one woman was given the advice by General Manager Jenny Vo to “make a sandwich the way she would make it for herself,” and the woman put soy sauce on her sandwich, because she hadn’t yet adapted to mainstream American ways to make food. So these women are able to learn how to adapt to mainstream American customer service and food customs while being able to create sustainable futures for themselves so they don’t have to return to their abuser.
One of the bigger issues is how to rebuild confidence after escaping domestic violence and the unique issue of how to gain skills to become self sufficient so as not to return back to the cycle of abuse. After working at My Sister’s Cafe, women are able to get jobs and become self sufficient. Not only are these women able to gain practical skills from working at the cafe, they regain confidence and independence as well. Understandably, credibility is a huge issue when immigrant women have escaped violent situations because a lot of the time they have not worked for a long period of time.
Valmores told me the story of how one woman got an administrative job for a non-profit after working at the cafe. “This job gave her a lot of confidence,” Valmores said. Another woman was able to start her own catering business with the skills she gained working at My Sister’s Cafe. The success that many former employees have achieved is no coincidence. The cafe provides a training and worksite with the intention that women are going to use the skills they have learned to further themselves.
“She [the former employee] went from here [My Sister’s Cafe] to an administrative job for a big nonprofit, and I feel like she was able to do that because she escaped her abuser and she didn’t know anybody here in the area and she needed some credibility,” Valmores said. Understandably, credibility is a huge issue when immigrant women have escaped violent situations because a lot of the time they have not worked for a long period of time.
While the best part of this restaurant is the fact that it helps women after they’ve escaped violent situations, the second best part has to be the food. All of the food is made to order, healthy, and under $10 (with the exception of the half sandwich-half soup lunch combo which will run you $10.99). Perfect for anyone looking to support a highly worthy cause without going broke.
This Asian fusion cafe has something for everyone, from more mainstream American food like sandwiches, wraps, and potato salad, to ramen and banh-mi for someone that might prefer a little more Asian than fusion. Even the drink menu is highly variant, the cafe offers unique drinks such as a chunky monkey latte (a latte with banana syrup and peanut butter chocolate syrup) and milk tea to traditionally brewed organic coffee. I’m personally a fan of the traditionally brewed coffee, as it is always fresh, dark, and organic.
When I had my lunch with Valmores, I ordered my usual turkey chipotle wrap, which is just spicy enough that I feel like I’m being adventurous but I don’t have to worry about burning off my taste buds. As a semi-reformed picky eater, this is a big plus. Not to mention the wrap was filled with the fresh and colorful vegetables my life is sorely lacking. As I bit into the wrap, I could immediately hear the satisfying crunch of fresh vegetables. The chipotle sauce complimented the corn, tomato, and lettuce very well. Overall, the wrap was satisfying and the portions were large; I was able to get the full sized wrap and a bottle of water for $10. Valmores, on the other hand, ordered noodles, which were complimented with fresh cilantro and chicken. “I’m partial to a hot lunch” she says. “I like to order the banh-mi but I’m trying to watch my carbs”.
This cafe not only proves the resiliency of these women but the effectiveness of this program. This is due to the fact that not only are these women able to gain practical skills from working at the cafe, they regain confidence and independence as well.
