The Working Centre open Fresh Grounds in downtown Kitchener
Posted Jun 23, 2017 01:24:30 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Working Centre has expanded its wide variety of services in downtown Kitchener.
The newly opened Fresh Grounds cafe is located at 256 King Street East in the former home of the Morning Glory Cafe and Bakery.
In addition to the cafe, Fresh Grounds also houses eight single dwelling supportive housing units, a bike repair shop and a digital media studio.
The Working Centre director Joe Mancini says creating a space that brings all levels of society together is vital to a vibrant downtown.
“Downtowns function best when people from all levels of society, people who work in banks or in lawyers offices, and people who don’t get a chance to work can meet. That is where conversations happen,” said Mancini.
Fresh Grounds will serve coffee and fresh whole foods at an affordable price, similar to Queen Street Commons, another one of The Working Centre’s popular downtown ventures.
Another big part of the new space is the film and digital media studio.
Mancini says a large number of youth have shown a great deal of interest and skill in digital media, so creating a special space made sense.
“Youth in general are highly skilled in digital media, but they also want a place where they have the access to the tools where they can create something really beautiful,” Mancini said.
Mancini adds the digital media studio can help build marketable skills that could lead to starting their own business — an opportunity, Mancini says, many of the people in the program would otherwise not have.
“We are not talking about the youth that would be at Communitech, we are talking about youth that would be left out of that whole thing, but those who really need the opportunities and have the skills and have the passion, and we really want to support that group,” he said.
Fresh Grounds also contains the bike repair program that has been in existence for a number of year. The new space is larger and will allow them to fix and refurbish more bikes.
