Miss Margaret: social enterprise, community hub, and refugees
The atmosphere inside Miss Margaret’s cafe is warm and inviting, silvery white dandelions covering the walls and clear jars of glass filled with native succulents and eucalyptus branches on the worn wooden tables. Every part of the cafe tells a story. There’s the story of the woman who comes everyday and swears she makes a new friend each time. There’s the story of the refugee who works at the counter and wipes the tables clean of delicious crumbs. And there’s the story of Melanie who founded Miss Margaret’s in June of last year.
“There’s a lot of people out there who, through no fault of their own, need some help,” says Melanie as we sit in the back corner of the Miss Margaret’s cafe, talking in the quiet moment of a Tuesday morning. The cafe is busiest during the lunch hours, and already the cafe is full of mid morning coffee lovers who stop in for their caffeine fix and a snack before taking off elsewhere for the day.
Melanie first dreamt of owning her own cafe while working in environmental management. A long time supporter of Oxfam and charities that support women and particularly education for women in developing countries, she mulled on the idea of starting up her own social enterprise for a long time.
“From the moment I decided that I was really going to do it it probably took a full three years,” Melanie says. “The grand plan is to hire refugees and to give them those career pathways and opportunities…I feel quite passionately about the fact that we live in such a lucky country and that one day it may not be so lucky and we may be in a situation where we need help from someone else…I just couldn’t imagine being in that situation and not having somebody help us.”
Social enterprises are a unique type of business gaining traction in Australia, where after the costs of running the business are covered, the profits are given away to people in need. Where those funds go depends on the focus on the business. In Melbourne’s CBD, a social enterprise called Streat employs many young people in an effort to end homelessness amongst Victoria’s youth. For Melanie, funding charities and organisations that educate women is her priority, and on top of donating her business profits, she also hosts monthly charity dinners that regularly sell out and have raised more than $3,000 to date.
In a UNICEF article on gender equality and girls’ education, they write that, “Providing girls with an education helps break the cycle of poverty: educated women are less likely to marry early and against their will; less likely to die in childbirth; more likely to have healthy babies; and are more likely to send their children to school…it [education] creates a ripple effect of opportunity that influences generations to come.”
By providing money and donations to charities that support efforts to educate women and girls, Melanie and the local community are leaving a legacy of generosity and tangible change in the wider world. But the positive impact isn’t being found only overseas; right in the heart of West Preston Miss Margaret’s cafe is supplying a need for the locals too.
Melanie describes how in December last year, as they held a party before closing up for the holidays on the last day, an older lady who lives in the apartments above the cafe met another resident who was there temporarily with her children from America. “They stayed in contact the whole time,” says Melanie. “They’re even planning a trip overseas together!”
Through hosting events and providing a beautiful space for people to meet and talk together, Miss Margaret’s is building a stronger sense of community which in a large city is vital to the smaller suburbs feeling of safety and personal connection.
“A lot of people come back for the interaction. It’s nice. It’s nice that we’ve managed to create that accidentally,” laughs Melanie, as another regular walks in and yells out a greeting to her. “It’s a real sense of community here.”
What can you do to help?
Hey! Thanks for reading. If you are looking for practical ideas on what you can do to support education for women, stronger communities here in Melbourne, or providing training and career paths for refugees, here are some ideas:
- Go visit Miss Margaret’s! Their soy hot chocolates are out of this world, and there’s a cabinet full of healthy and locally made treats too.
- Attend one of their charity dinners
- Shop or volunteer at the Concious Closet, a Melbourne organisation who provides practical support for disadvantaged women, helping them to find work (including women with disabilities, refugees and migrants)
