CHENNAI: Walk into the R'vive cafe in Kilpauk and you'll be welcomed by the smell of freshly baked cake and cookies and an unhindered view of the sky, courtesy the glass ceiling. But these are secondary to the cafe’s USP which is that it is run by recovering patients from the adjacent Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
R’vive, modelled as a community cafe, has been launched by the IMH in association with the Chennai Mission, a charitable trust founded by restaurateur M Mahadevan, to mainstream the employment of persons living with mental illness.
The cafe’s staff includes persons from other marginalised communities as well. The cashier is a woman with dwarfism while the barista is an acid attack survivor. "This is an inclusive cafe. Apart from the patients of IMH, we plan to employ trans persons. The staff work across two shifts -- 9 am to 12 noon and 12 noon to 9 pm," said Dr P Poorna Chandrika, the IMH director.
Currently the cafe employs seven IMH patients, one of whom lives at home while the others reside at the Institute. The director mentioned that some of the IMH patients had worked outside the institute before the pandemic. “They keep asking when they can go back to work. Now, with a workplace near the hospital, they will not need to travel far for work,” she said.
Speaking about the initiative, Mahadevan said there are challenges in running such a cafe, but mentioned that he had worked with patients from the IMH before. At the Egmore branch of his popular Writer's Cafe, six IMH patients were employed till six months before the pandemic.
"There will be challenges when these patients interact with customers. But we have sensitised our staff and have also put up a board to inform customers that this is an inclusive cafe for enhancing employment of mentally ill persons," he said.
The net income from the R'vive Cafe will be donated for the welfare of the IMH patients. The Chennai Mission will pay the patients a stipend during their training after which they will be taken on as full-time employees, added Mahadevan.
Though the Cafe has been open for a week now, Health Minister Ma Subramanian is expected to formally inaugurate the venture.
The Chennai Mission also runs the freedom bakery at the Puzhal Central Prison, the Winners Bakery with the Greater Chennai Corporation and Popcause with the Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu.