Northside Neighborhood House is partnering with other service agencies to open Coffee Community Collective, or C3, next door to NNH’s Soddy-Daisy thrift store. Opening day is Monday, May 6, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Tuesday, May 7 at 10 a.m.
Along with being a place where people can connect with social services, C3 will also be a coffeehouse open to the public. C3 will serve coffee roasted locally by Mad Priest, espresso drinks and tea, and prepackaged food will eventually be available as well.
“We thought it was a very effective way to build community and build relationships,” NNH CEO Rachel Gammon said of the coffeehouse concept. “The idea is to continue to extend resources out in that area.”
Partner agencies that will offer services at the space along with NNH are the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, the Children’s Advocacy Center; the city of Chattanooga’s Office of Family Empowerment; and the Helen Ross McNabb Center; which provides mental health services for children and adults.
Since the main expenses for nonprofits are renting space and paying personnel, it makes sense for agencies to partner with one another under one roof to alleviate the overhead costs of renting a space, said Gammon.
NNH’s mission is to promote independence in residents in need who live north of the river by offering education and assistance. Since its founding in 1924, the nonprofit has had its main office in North Chattanooga, but in 2013, NNH established a satellite office inside Dallas Bay Baptist Church in Soddy-Daisy due to an increase in requests for assistance from people in that area and the high price of gas at that time, Gammon said.
Three years later, NNH opened its own facility providing services in Soddy-Daisy at 9358 Dayton Pike, and opened a new thrift store that serves as a fundraiser for the agency at 10161 Dayton Pike last January.
At a recent Soddy-Daisy City Commission meeting, Mayor Geno Shipley praised NNH for the assistance the agency provided to residents last September, when a flash flood caused one fatality and millions of dollars in damage across the small city. A plumber by trade, Shipley also offered to donate and install bathroom fixtures in the new space.
C3 is at 10161 Dayton Pike and can be reached at 605-2892.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.