What is the Sarvis Empowerment Cafe?
Run by the Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Community Development Corporation (CKAR CDC), the Sarvis Empowerment Cafe is a powerhouse serving the Greater Riverdale community. The Cafe will serve fresh, healthy and affordable meals, and provide a professional food-service industry training program to help set up community members to pursue bigger and better jobs.
In partnership with Prince George’s Community College, Sarvis will provide a 14-week certified culinary arts and customer service training program to produce 45 future chefs. “CKAR, CDC hired a professional chef who will teach a course at Prince George’s Community College so that community members can take the class and receive a college certificate. They can then be hired by big food corporations within [the café’s] partnership, such as MGM Grand and Whole Foods Market,” said Professor Dennis Nola, UMD Department of Plant Science Professor and President of the Board of Directors of CKAR CDC.
Grand Opening Fall 2021!
How did this project begin?
In 2008, while Professor Dennis Nola and Brian Kane were teaching the LARC Community Design Studio, they were contacted by the Neighborhood Design Center, who told them several homeowner associations in Riverdale inquired about improving their community.
The Professors considered this an excellent opportunity to leverage the knowledge of the University to help the people in local communities. They chose to use Riverdale as the site for the upcoming design project, working with the students to research the site, and explore possible design solutions.
By conducting surveys and engaging the community, students identified a number of possible projects ranging from planting designs, safety issues, environmental improvements, to thoughtful ways to better receive the proposed Purple Line station that could serve to improve the community. Students then created a report and project idea boards which were used successfully to pursue funding to bring these projects to life.
Although the students' work was completed at the close of that school year, Professor Nola chose to continue working with the community as one of the co-founders of CKAR, CDC Inc and through further exploration of aspects of Riverdale in his design studios for semesters to come.
Student Projects
During the fall of 2020, juniors in the Site Planning and Regional Design Studio were tasked with revitalizing the outdoor deck area adjacent to the cafe with the goal of making the space welcoming to the local community, safe, easily accessible, and adaptable for various activities in the future. Check out some of their work below!
Rahat Duary
ELIN FAN
Tali Kirshenboim
Yike Xu
Similar Projects
This partnership has already led to the implementation of a number of community improvement development projects including the Edmonston Road Rain Garden, and the Grow Green Initiative.
Thanks to the partnership of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, The Neighborhood Design Center, the Prince George’s County Department of the Environment, and Mid-Atlantic AmeriCorps VISTA, the Green Grow Initiative provides large shade trees, small understory trees, shrubs (including fruit bushes) for free as an effort to create a more healthy environment in the Riverdale Community. These trees benefit the community by improving air quality, increasing property value, increasing business traffic and value, decreasing stormwater runoff, cooling the community, increasing immunity, increasing physical activity by residents, improving mental health and lowering stress, improving cognitive performance in children.
