Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Budget Impasse Forces An End To Inspiration Kitchens

We have been told by Inspiration Corp. for a long time about how badly the lack of funding from Springfield has impacted their programs. Even with the stopgap budget passed last week, they are only receiving from the state half of what they've paid out, half of the money they are due.

Last night we heard from a reader:  "I had brunch at Inspiration Kitchen on Saturday and sadly found out they are closing at the end of the month.  The lack of a passed state budget has put this restaurant out of business.  They will be having customer appreciation events between now and July 30th.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but wanted to make everyone aware."

We wrote to Inspiration Corp. to confirm, and today we got one of the saddest press releases we can remember:
"I am writing to share the news that we at Inspiration Corporation have made the difficult decision to close our Inspiration Kitchens – Uptown social enterprise restaurant after brunch on Sunday, July 31st.  I am sure that this decision will be difficult for many of the patrons who have so generously supported our first experiment in social enterprise over the last 10 years.

We are so proud of the amazing staff at the restaurant – many of whom are graduates of our Foodservice Training program – that has worked hard to serve up delicious food and superb customer experience, earning glowing reviews and universal praise.

More importantly, we have been able to assist more than 500 low-income and homeless job-seekers in finding careers in the culinary industry through our training program.

While we are closing one of our locations, we are not walking away from our commitment to serving Chicago’s most vulnerable residents.  We continue to operate our Foodservice Training program at our Inspiration Kitchens – Garfield Park facility, and remain committed to using social enterprise as a vehicle to help people build new careers and brighter futures.

And we are not walking away from the Uptown community, where we have operated since 1989 when Lisa Nigro pulled her little red wagon through the streets. Inspiration Cafe, at Wilson and Broadway, will continue to serve hot meals in an atmosphere of dignity and respect to individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty, relying on more than 1,000 volunteers each year, many from the Uptown community.

Unfortunately, Inspiration Kitchens – Uptown has struggled to remain viable over the last three years as public support for individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty has diminished or disappeared.

In 2014, we lost more than $350,000 in federal funding for our Foodservice Training program in Uptown and were forced to consolidate at our west side restaurant.  The following year saw cuts to funding from the State of Illinois for similar programs, culminating in an entire fiscal year without a state budget.

We can no longer justify the cost of running Inspiration Kitchens – Uptown, which as a full-service restaurant carries high fixed costs with low profit-margins.

Like many other nonprofit organizations in the state, we are struggling to meet the increasing demand for services with diminished resources, and we have been forced to make painful cuts to ensure that we are spending our limited funds on the programs that provide the greatest possible benefit for homeless and low-income Chicagoans.

As we look to the future, we are happy to report that we are already in talks with a partner to launch a new Inspiration Kitchens project in Uptown with an entirely new concept next year, so please stay tuned for updates.

In the meanwhile, we will be focusing on expanding our catering business, which is beginning to generate both net revenue for our organization and employment opportunities for our graduates.  And we hope that many of our loyal patrons will continue to enjoy our food and service by using our catering for their special events or visiting Inspiration Kitchens – Garfield Park.

Thank you to all of the patrons, donors, and volunteers who have generously supported us over the years." 

11 comments:

  1. So, there was an email campaign for the tent cities under the viaducts - what about an email campaign to help keep Inspiration Kitchen in business in Uptown?? Can't anything be done to help?? This is so sad :(

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  2. Sad.
    There was a saying, "live by the grant die by the grant." Inspiration would do well to turn for profit. They trained a lot of chefs & cooks that they can hire & they can go private and just do breakfast only....like the Waffles Café on Broadway did. That guy had a booming business, but bad management ($$$) killed his business.

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  3. This is a real shame. I have been really impressed by this organization and proud to have them in Uptown.

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  4. This is one of the really useful organizations serving homeless people. Having worked at REST; a shelter located around the corner from them, I can say firsthand that these people, unlike REST were doing a good job at helping homeless people transition to becoming self-sufficient, contributing members of society. They also had a very good development/fundraising team. That Inspiration is closing shows how desperately low-income people depend on the support of the State Government to keep institutions that help them alive. This is a sad day for not only homeless people, but for Chicago itself, as now there are less options for those -- and it's a healthy majority of homeless people -- who really, really want to get off the streets and into jobs and homes. Shame on the State of Illinois for allowing this to happen.

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    1. Why aren't our own state reps and senators held accountable for this? Why does John Cullerton sit just one neighborhood south and no one holds him accountable for the log jam that he creates in Springfield and the effect it has in our community? When is the last time anyone saw him in Uptown? just asking.

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  5. Can other area restaurants step up and create a coalition that continues the the front-line food service training experience for IK clients? If we can't have this marvelous restaurant, can we--the community--help to figure out a way to let their clients gain this important experience that puts them on the path to sustainable employment?

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    1. The owners can start a gofundme/kickstarter type fund to get a private restaurant going.

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  6. I'm happy to hear Inspiration will still have operations in Uptown. But how the governor has been ignoring citizens of Chicago, most in need should be considered criminal.

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    1. Don't put it all on Rauner although he's about 3/4 of the problem....how about the alderman? I'm sure there's money in his budget to help an operation like Inspiration...there's certainly an effort by the alderman to turn every brick building into a luxury apartment.
      But owner said closure was due to FEDERAL Grant money, not state money.

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    2. No. "In 2014, we lost more than $350,000 in federal funding for our Foodservice Training program in Uptown and were forced to consolidate at our west side restaurant. The following year saw cuts to funding from the State of Illinois for similar programs, culminating in an entire fiscal year without a state budget."

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  7. how can we raise money to help them stay in business? That state of IL sucks!

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