The equipment is the same: commercial ovens, commercial sinks, commercial everything. Why not take a step away from the traditional homeless shelter format and run it like a commercial kitchen? That’s exactly what Beau Heyen in St. Louis thought when he set up his homeless shelter.
Heyen decided that he would treat the people who came into his homeless shelter with dignity, honor, and pride. It’s a completely different format than the traditional one which has been set up for expediency.
“Food is a basic human right,” says Heyen. “This is about community. We want police officers and firefighters to come in and eat with our clients. I worked in soup kitchens in New York where there’s 8 million people. Here, a place like this can make a difference.”
People who come into the shelter also have the chance to learn the restaurant trade from the people who are running the shelter. Their goal is to have the shelter be a restaurant’s first call when there’s a need for labor. “Everyone has a right to be nourished and sustained, and we’ll do that with both food and learning.”
Commercial ovens might be in the kitchen, but the dignity and atmosphere at this particular homeless shelter is different. It warms the heart.
