St. Petersburg cafe: Pay-what-you-can venue opens on Central Avenue

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A new café on Central Avenue is opening its doors with a mission to serve the local community regardless of a customer's ability to pay.

St. Petersburg café launch

What we know:

Beloved Community Café is launching a pay-what-you-can model during weekdays, aiming to provide accessible food while creating an inclusive environment. The concept was spearheaded by Jennifer Daysa, the pastor of Good Samaritan Church and co-manager of the café. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the church to sell its former location, Daysa envisioned the café as a way to adapt and serve the neighborhood.

"I know how this sounds, but I literally went to bed one night and I had a dream about doing this," she said. "I brought it to a retreat that we were having as a congregation and we talked about it. We researched for about six months, and then we voted as a congregation that this is really what we wanted to do."

Weekly schedule and partners

The backstory:

The venue will serve multiple functions throughout the week:

• Weekdays: Operates as a pay-what-you-can café.
• Evenings: Partner with the Recovery Epicenter Foundation to offer a recovery space that has just opened, offering drop-in times from 3-7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
• Wednesdays: Community dinners partnering with Metropolitan Ministries.
• Sundays: Serves as the worship space for Good Samaritan Church.

Community impact and support

What they're saying:

"We really want to be an epicenter of beloved community," Daysa said. "You know, beloved community was something that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about. Really this idea of a place where people of all different walks of life, different identities, can come and get to know each other and really experience community. And so, we hope that when people come and experience that here that just creates a ripple effect that goes out into our community."

Ten local congregations are partnering with the initiative through financial sponsorships and volunteer work. Volunteers will be on hand to sit, converse and share meals or coffee with patrons who are visiting alone.

Community launch schedule

What's next:

Organizers are seeking additional sponsorships from local businesses and community organizations as they move through a phased launch, with full operations expected within the next few months.

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