All Are welcome Regardless of means
Simple Flavors
Quality Ingredients
a pay-what-you-can Café
Coming soon to Durham, North Carolina
Heart Beats Community Café is a nonprofit 501c3 that will be a pay-what-you-can cafe located in Durham, North Carolina. We seek to provide a place all have access to good, nourishing, and affordable food. A place individuals can eat it in a welcoming, clean, environment in which they feel valued, accepted and part of a community.
There is Dignity
and Power in Choice
We will accomplish our mission in two ways:
1.
We eat together.
Patrons from all walks of life come together to share a meal at our table.
2.
We volunteer together.
People can volunteer for their meal every day and gain skills and connection with each shift.
The best part is you wouldn’t even know we are a nonprofit. To the average consumer, we will operate as one of the millions of cafes you eat at every day…until a volunteer behind the counter asks, “would you like to pay the suggested price, pay less or volunteer for your meal?”
Our Story
HBCC was started in 2024 with a mission to provide good food and community to all, regardless of means. The founder, grew up in an environment where food was love and was eaten while connecting with family and friends. Her favorite way to show love to others was to make them a meal. She witnessed people eat from a dumpster, a kitchen co-worker pile up food from customer’s plates and people purchasing unhealthy food because it was less expensive than healthier food. As a foster parent, she experienced food insecure youth that ate butter, ChapStick, hoarded food, stole and snuck food: even a young girl who was suspended from school for taking chips.
Because of her passion for food, she frequently researched food concepts. Over a decade ago, she stumbled on a Pay-What-You-Can restaurant and couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t imagine how this model worked but was very intrigued. Fast forward to 2022 and she signed up for a volunteer day that happened to be at A Place At the Table, Raleigh’s first pay what you can café and has been hooked ever since.
After seeing the impact A Place At The Table has had on the community and those facing food insecurity in Raleigh, HBCC was established to provide a similar option to the food insecure in Durham, NC.
Why Durham?
Catherine has a deep personal connection to Durham, NC. Growing up, she spent every holiday there with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Her parents attended Durham High, Aunt and Uncle Jordan High and her cousins Northern High.
Catherine’s grandfather, Dr. George W Crane, Jr., served 60-70 patients a day at his Dermatology practice he began in 1952. She has many fond memories of going to her grandfather’s office and running up and down the halls, stairs and exploring the parking lot.
Her Grandfather also started the department of Dermatology at UNC in 1952 and continued teaching after he retired from his dermatology practice. He had a love for helping people and passion for education.
For Catherine’s 20th wedding anniversary, she wanted to get away but didn’t want to go far so she booked a staycation in downtown Durham. She spent the weekend walking around, eating delicious food, experiencing the best farmers market, and exploring so many other areas. It felt like home and she knew this was where she wanted to live and serve.
Opening a café in Durham will be a way to honor these memories, continue to help in the community her grandfather did and create a space where others can build their own special moments.
Mission Statement
Provide healthy food and community for all regardless of means
Core Values
Dignity
Meet people where they are, listen without judgement, communicate with kindness and empower each to make their own choices
Respect
Recognize each others worth, value and humanity. Appreciate unique qualities and perspectives of others, regardless of differences, and treat them with courtesy
Community
Diverse group of voices, perspectives, and cultures, coming together for a common purpose. A place to belong, find purpose, celebrate triumphs and navigate challenges.
Excellence
A hunger for continual improvement along a journey of continuous growth and discovery
Humility
Modest and courteous attitude towards oneself and others
