Goodbye 10 Mill Road
10 Mill Road has been home to the Freedom Cafe for the last 8 years. Our landlord’s gracious offering of the space and some starting equipment were instrumental in launching our vision here in Durham. For years, community members and students (including you!) have gathered to drink ethically sourced cafe beverages, learn about the current state of slavery and labor abuse worldwide, and partake in many community events such as our weekly Perform For Freedom.

Poised for Growth
Just over a year ago (pre-pandemic), the Café Board of Directors and staff began looking at the possibility of expanding the Café’s offerings: adding food to our menu, raising funds for hiring additional staff to help expand programming and impact, and exploring franchising models to help build a network of like minded businesses and cafes beyond our location here in Durham. Our initial plan had been to pursue a more gradual shift to a new location that would allow us to pursue this growth. But...

New Location Needed Immediately
That plan and our timeline was greatly accelerated when, in January, our current landlord informed us that our time at 10 Mill Road would be coming to an end on May 20th, 2021.

So, the Café Staff and Board got to planning!

New Location Secured
The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of exploring opportunities and developing a transition plan. We are thrilled to share that we have signed a lease at 37 Main Street, and will soon be moving The Freedom Café into the former Scammell Grange Hall in downtown Durham.

The Grange Hall has been a central gathering place for community connection and social change for over 150 years. We can’t think of a better location to host “a collaborative space that invites the local community to engage the issue of commercial exploitation and take action toward a traffic-free world, one consciously sourced mug at a time!” (Learn about the history of Scammell Grange Hall, here.)

New Funding Needed - $10,000 “Building Freedom” Campaign, Ends June 8th 2021
To help facilitate this transition and ensure that we are able to be fully staffed with robust programming at the start of UNH’s Fall Semester, we are looking to raise $10,000. 

These funds will help with the following efforts:

1. Outfitting (materials and service fees) the new location with proper plumbing and setup for adding food prep and food items to the menu

2. Providing funds for staff to work both cafe hours and to work on programming

We did the math- if everyone who has visited or been impacted by the Cafe’s work over the years donated just $1, we’d be well past our goal! :-)

For those wondering about our finances and how our model works generally, click here for past filings and a description of our model.

And while this campaign is specifically geared towards our move to the new location, we have many other ways to get involved (and for you to get great coffee and tea!). Click here to sign up for a monthly donation, or here to buy some ethically sourced goods. And in case you haven’t heard, we have a monthly Coffee & Tea Subscription called the Freedom Builder club!

Lastly, if our vision of a slave-free world and our news of expansion excites you, we’d LOVE to have you on board to help expand our mission. We have needs across the organization, from joining our Board of Directors down to volunteer baristas. (Sign up to volunteer here, or Email info@thefreedomcafe.org) 

Onward and Upward
We’ve been so inspired by the tireless efforts of our volunteers, donors, staff, and--most importantly--the passion of our community over the years, but especially since the start of the Pandemic and as we’ve explored this quick transition to a new space. It gives us great confidence that we’ll be able to come out of the pandemic and forced move stronger than ever.