By late morning of its opening day, the café at Fredericton small home community 12 Neighbours had a line to the door. Neighbourly Coffee was selling hot drinks and baked goods, but many came to support those in need.
Jennifer Speedy attended the opening day and said she hopes to come every week.
“Housing is such an important thing, and a lot of people have nowhere to go. These small houses are amazing,” she said.
12 Neighbours is known for providing tiny homes to just under 100 people who otherwise might have nowhere else to go.
It used to run a pop-up coffee shop out of Picaroons Roundhouse, but now is running a permanent café on the site, bringing people from around Fredericton to the community.
Al Smith, known as Mayor Al, was the third small-home resident and will be hosting at the café. That will give him more workplace skills — and help him cover some essential costs for his common-law partner’s medical bills.
“For me, it’s really good because I don’t have health insurance, so it’ll pay for a lot of meds,” he said.
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It’s one of several on-site initiatives aimed at giving residents experience, with market pay. Others include a printing business and tiny homes for sale.
“How do we help people to move as far along as they can to an independent and full life? And a big part of that is our employment paths,” Marcel Lebrun, who founded the community, said.
He said the café is also about bringing people together.
“Really, the whole thing is a context for community. You know, community between and for Fredericton. So, more healthy relationships, and that’s what helps all of us move ahead in life,” he said.
Smith wanted to share that community with everyone in Fredericton.
“This is Fredericton’s café,” he said.
Speedy said the space is inviting.
“When you come in, you can see that they thought a lot about having people come in and how you need to sit,” she said.
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