The project germinated when Pam Klink, TurnAbout's chef-director, wanted to hold a pastry class for the underemployed at All Saints Episcopal Church in Sunderland. Health department regulations nixed the project, but when space came available in Owings, she decided to take the plunge.
Klink has used the opportunity to merge several humanitarian missions: job training for the underemployed, occupations for the developmentally disabled, payment of a "living wage" and the sale of "fair trade" goods.
The project has been getting underway gradually since its April opening with the help of grants from All Saints, Broadview Baptist Church and the Garrett Music Academy.
"We, basically, have started some of the pieces," Klink said, including hiring two workers recommended by the Arc of Southern Maryland, an organization assisting the developmentally disabled. Right now the Cafe is "playing poor" to get on its feet, but hopes to soon start training interested workers about the food industry and paying a "living wage" of $9.50 an hour, a wage intended to enable a person to support himself.
"Now that we have some of the baking ovens, we are going to hire, as funds come available, some underemployed people like single moms to train them how to bake and run a deli or a retail food service organization," Klink said. "Then, anybody who shows an interest, we can train them on the management end of the business. Our goals in our bylaws [state] we want to pay the trainees the Maryland living wage, $3 an hour more than minimum wage so they can actually sustain a decent living. We knew there was a need, but we didn't know how big of a need." Several organizations recommended people to her, and while she will be hiring in early 2009, she expects to have to turn people away, though receiving more contributions could change that.
"If the funding is there, we can hire as many people as we can fit in here," she said.
Klink's commitment to equity extends to the goods for sale there, as well, including fair-trade teapots, ornaments, toys, pottery, tablecloths and other crafts. Fair trade coffee and tea are also on offer, and the coffee served at the Cafe, from Larry's Beans, is also fair trade certified.
Customers can feel good about the organization they are supporting, but the Cafe really stands on the quality of its food and service, just like a normal business, Klink said.
"We've had really good comments about our coffee," she said. "…I've always had a really good response. People come in here and are happy with the food. The bagels are fresh-baked here, the muffins are from scratch. That is what has tied some people to us, our bagels and muffins. And we use Boar's Head meats in our sandwiches."
On the initiative of Rev. Ken Phelps of All Saints, TurnAbout also serves as a gathering place for young people.
"On Friday nights we stay open until 10 and 11, we basically provide a safe place for teenagers to hang out," Klink said. "Open mic, board games — we have a core group that comes in here, others rotate in and out. They'll come in and play a game of Monopoly and hang out. Then their parents will pick them up later." It might add amplified guitar and karaoke, she said.
Nicole Morgan, 19, has worked at TurnAbout since the beginning, having been recommended for the job by her former boss, who leased the space as Sunflower Cafe. In her second year at Anne Arundel Community College, Morgan said she enjoys the work and is pleased with the cafe's mission.
"I think it's pretty awesome," the Owings resident said. "I don't know too many places that do that kind of stuff. [In fair trade inventory] we sold out of a lot of our teapots that we used to have."
Morgan said she also liked getting to know Pearl, one of the disabled workers.
"She's kind of become part of our family here. She's really sweet. I may have seen [developmentally disabled people] in public but I'd never really known anybody like that," she said.
Even after she graduates and doesn't need the job, Morgan plans to volunteer.
Phelps could not be reached for comment.
Looking for TurnAbout Café in Owings? Keep your eye out for Chaneyville Road or you might fly past it like I did. In April, TurnAbout moved into the former location of Sunflower Café, in a small shopping center on Route 4, and the fluorescent lights above the doors have yet to be covered by a sign.
Stop in, though, for some quality (and fair trade) coffee drinks, smoothies, $1 cans of soda, fresh baked goods, a "little dude" sandwich or some soup. There is more to this new establishment than meets the eye. A lot more. And it's a good thing I decided to introduce myself to Director Pam Klink (something your restaurant critic does not normally do), or TurnAbout's nonprofit mission might have flown over my head.
First, let's talk about the menu. Klink, who grew up in Anne Arundel County, worked in Baltimore as a pastry chef before returning to Southern Maryland about seven years ago. The bagels are New York-style and all of TurnAbout's pies, muffins, cookies, cakes, brownies and scones are baked daily on the site. TurnAbout also offers breakfast sandwiches.
"Cover your ears," Rachael Plaudis shouted as she ran the blender for a strawberry smoothie. It turned out to be well worth the noise. The small I ordered could have passed as a large; it was sweet, refreshing and topped with whipped cream.
For sandwiches, all of which are about $5 and come with a pickle and chips, you can't go wrong with the TurnAbout Hero ($5.50), a hearty sandwich with a thick, seasoned pile (hot peppers optional) of ham, turkey, salami, provolone, lettuce and tomato on a fresh Italian roll. Had I applied the $2 double-your-meat option to this sandwich, a hero might have transformed into a monster.
"Little dude," on the other hand, is turkey, bacon, vegetables, cream cheese and balsamic dressing on toast. Others options include reubens, paninis and peanut butter and jelly. Combination meals like a cup of chili or half a sandwich with a salad are available; sides include a "loaded" baked potato and a mini quiche.
While it is officially a café, TurnAbout could qualify as a coffeehouse. The menu, for one, includes fair trade coffee — a process which ensures that farmers get sufficient compensation — but this new living room-meets-shopping center venue also appears to be rising up as a gathering place.
On one end of the restaurant, the chairs are cleared out on Friday nights for an open mic from 7 to 10 p.m. One finds some chess boards, cups of Trivial Pursuit cards on antique tables and a few bookshelves.
Rev. Ken Phelps of All Saints Episcopal Church, hooked into free wireless Internet access, sat at a tall round table. His church is one of the area groups supporting TurnAbout's stated mission of fair trade, fair employment and fair play (meaning a safe place for teenagers to hang out). Klink said TurnAbout is committed to providing both training and employment for the "under-employed," particularly single parents and people with disabilities.
Plaudis, a member of All Saints Episcopal Church, started volunteering for TurnAbout when it opened in April. Lately she is working three days a week, and Klink, who has found a co-worker willing to match her enthusiasm, is looking for a full-time salary.
"You should see us in the morning," Plaudis said. "We're like Moe and Curly."
It was not the first time during my visited that Plaudis sparked a few laughs. Still, on a more serious note, no clumsiness in preparation was evident in any of the pastries in the case, (although perhaps I was clumsy not to try some).
Even if the sign out front has yet to arrive, TurnAbout most certainly has. What's more, it seems like most of the kinks have already been worked out.
Open Monday- 11:00am-2:00pm Tuesday-Friday 11:00am-9pm Saturday 4:30pm-9:00pm
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