St Merkorious Charity to open community café

One of Sydney’s most successful charities is reaching out to those doing it tough in Strathfield, with plans to open a community café that will provide on-the-job training for people who are isolated.

St Merkorious is expanding its services, with the opening of a community café.

Subject to planning approvals, the St Merkorious Community Café is hoping to open in May this year, following a renovation of the building in Hudson Park, Strathfield.

The PAYCE Foundation has been a long-term supporter of St Merkorious Charity which started 11 years ago in the kitchen of founder Paula Nicolas.

The Charity feeds more than 4000 people a week and runs outreach food and support across Sydney.

Paula says the rising cost of providing services and the increasing demand has been challenging over the past 12 months.

“We have people catching the train to Strathfield and then walking up to our centre to ask for food and assistance,” she said

“There use to be a lot of shame in asking for help, but now there is no shame, they need to survive and feed their family.”

She says the new community café, that will include a community garden, will not only help with the needs of people, but also offer training to assist clients find employment.

The community hub will offer barista, food handling and café service training.

“We want to give people both training and on-the-job experience to assist clients find a paid job.”

PAYCE Foundation director Dominic Sullivan said: “We love the work that Paula and them team do; they deliver on the frontline and make a difference.

“The café is another excellent initiative that will make a difference for people struggling on the fringes of society.”