The newly opened Together Cafe on Orchard Knob Avenue is the latest coffee shop to open among the many already in Chattanooga, but its main mission is not one of profit but rather of charity.
Started by the Together Coalition, a group of faith-based organizations dedicated to ending human trafficking, the new cafe at 801 South Orchard Knob Ave., has a full menu of tea, espresso, coffee, speciality drinks, desserts and small plates and a mission of “ending injustice, one cup at a time.”
Every dollar spent at the cafe will go toward helping women and children affected by sexual exploitation and violence except what is needed to pay for the food and drink supplies and to pay the six employees, said Deven Wallace, lead for the Together Coalition and founder of the Zion Project. The coalition consists of a few core organizations dedicated to ending human trafficking of women and children, including the Zion Project, 7th Well, Willowbend Farms, Elm and Making Room Ministries, which is an adoption and foster agency.
“We felt like it was a good way to get income without always having to go out and beg for money,” said Wallace, who is also a lead pastor at Redemption to the Nations Church down the street from the coffee shop. “Let’s give the community a product they love but then also give them a cause behind it.”
Redemption to the Nation actually owns the space and provides it to the Together Coalition for free. All the coffee shop profits go through the church and then get dispersed to the organizations involved with the coalition.