Greetings From our President/CEO...

As shared in the past, the café is designed as a training site for our culinary classes and as a “stepping stone” to jobs in the hospitality industry. In this difficult economy we are proud of every job we help secure for our graduates. We’ve proven that our model of providing transitional jobs to help our students gain skill, confidence, and experience makes a difference to employers. We invest deeply in our clients and the results are paying off. More Than a Meal’s customers now include seven schools, an after school program and a summer camp. This summer we catered four weddings and served customers throughout Rhode Island. Amos House Builds is having similar success. It currently employs four graduates of the carpentry training program. During the summer our crew painted two houses, built a shed, deck, and gorgeous porch made of mahogany.

Currently our income generating businesses account for nearly a million dollars of our operating budget. While we’re not yet making a profit, they are covering 80% of their expenses. When I compare this with other social enterprises of similar scope, we far exceed other nonprofits.

When I fundraise today I ask our donors to become investors in the people of Amos House. Every donation creates a double bottom-line: jobs for our community and resources to continue to provide job training in culinary arts and carpentry. Please consider becoming an investor. Bring a friend to lunch at our café. Hire More Than a Meal to cater your events and Amos House Builds for your home improvement projects. All of these options will help us fulfill our motto: “helping people help themselves.”

With gratitude,
Eileen Hayes