Start Of A Revival? New Non-Profit Cafe Opens In Englewood
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some Englewood residents are celebrating an accomplishment that's been four years in the making.
New Englewood Cafe Opens
It's called Kusanya Cafe, which, in the Swahili language means to come and gather.
The grand opening was today at 69th and Green Streets.
The café is non-profit and run by a board that currently consists of three people.
The whole idea, says manager Donald Highsmith is to provide local residents with a place to gather and have a good time.
They're also opening the space to community groups, artists, musicians, poets and anyone else who shares their goal of bringing people together.
Patrons we met there today included Keith Hudson, a long-time Chicago blues musician, who's played with the likes of Hound Dog Taylor.
He was recalling the glory days of the neighborhood in the 1960s, when he first moved in.
It was a beautiful and lively place, he said, with neat homes, stable families and entertainment on many corners.
Today, said patron Mark Yelverton, when you drive around you see the blight.
He said a place like the café is one "baby step" toward bringing Englewood back to what it once was.
The manager said he doesn't care if they make any money. As long as they can sustain themselves, he says, they'll have accomplished their goal.
He said there really isn't anything like the café in the neighborhood anymore.
Some patrons said they hope the café and the Whole Foods opening in the neighborhood will lead to other improvements that will make life in Englewood more like life in other neighborhoods that people take for granted.
