Everybody Eats - A Movement

Setting the Bar: Grayson Arthurs on Transition, Community, and Finding Safe Spaces
Renee welcomes Grayson Arthurs, former Farm Cafe intern and current community engagement coordinator at He, She, Z and We, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit in Richmond, Virginia. What started as a college internship for political science credit became one of the most meaningful experiences of Grayson's life.
Now working with trans youth and their families, Grayson draws directly on lessons learned at the cafe: wearing many hats in nonprofit work, navigating diverse communities, and finding creative connectors to bring people together.
Throughout, Grayson emphasizes that Farm Cafe set the bar high, teaching what meaningful community work should look like. The cafe showed that safe spaces aren't just about providing meals but about creating room for people to find connection, dignity, and the freedom to just be.
 
Grayson Arthurs is a North Carolina native, turned Virginia transplant. They graduated from Appalachian State in 2021, the same year that they began a summer internship at F.A.R.M. Cafe. In 2023 they left the cafe and Boone for Richmond, Virginia where they now work at He She Ze & We, a nonprofit that supports transgender and nonbinary people and their families. Grayson says that their years at F.A.R.M. Cafe shaped them into the person they are today- a confident and passionate pursuer of authentic community with a deep appreciation for Dukes Mayonnaise (#Renee!).
 
 

The journey of Crescent City Cafe - from Pop-Up to Brick-and-Mortar
Renee chats with Adelle Bergman, executive director of Crescent City Cafe in New Orleans, on the 20th anniversary of the day she drove into the city with her Honda Accord to do Hurricane Katrina relief work. What started as a one-year commitment became two decades of community building through food.
Founded in 2009 by Adelle's friends as a bi-monthly pop-up breakfast in a church basement, Crescent City Cafe created dignified dining experiences for people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. After learning about the pay-what-you-can model at the 2014 Denver One World Everybody Eats summit, they began the journey toward brick-and-mortar. Now, after navigating zoning challenges, finding the right space on Magazine Street, and educating neighbors about their mission, they're preparing to open a full breakfast and brunch restaurant while continuing their Saturday pop-up cafes.
The conversation explores the unique challenges of operating in New Orleans, from brunch alcohol culture to Mardi Gras economics to neighborhood fears about who will be sitting at the table. Adelle shares stories that reveal the cafe's deep impact on volunteers and guests alike.Throughout, she emphasizes that the cafe's strength lies in not defining people by their needs, but in creating space where everyone can eat with dignity and build community around the table.
Renee (Left) with Adelle (Right)
 
Adelle Bergman is the Director of Crescent City Cafe, a New Orleans nonprofit offering dignified dining for anyone experiencing food insecurity. Originally from Oklahoma, she moved to New Orleans over 19 years ago to support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and never left.
During her early years in New Orleans, Adelle began volunteering with Crescent City Cafe, founded in 2009 by her friends as a volunteer-led, restaurant-style breakfast serving guests in need. In 2015, the Cafe was inspired by the pay-what-you-can model and Adelle stepped into a leadership role to help guide its growth into a full-fledged nonprofit.
Under her leadership, the Cafe has continued its long-standing tradition of serving guests twice a month and is now preparing to expand into a daily pay-what-you-can community cafe. It is set to open in the fall of 2026, marking an exciting new chapter in its mission to serve with dignity.
When not at the Cafe, Adelle stays active in the community as a member of the Rotary Club of Mid-City New Orleans and belly dances with the Shimmy Shakti Dance Troupe. She lives in Gentilly with her husband Michael and their two young daughters.

In this episode, Renee chats with Robert, a volunteer and community member at A Place at the Table Raleigh, about how a community cafe became a lifeline during his most challenging moments. A recent exercise physiology graduate, Robert transitioned from first-time diner to regular volunteer and shares how the cafe offers far more than nutrition. He credits the community and sense of belonging at A Place at the Table with providing spaces to combat loneliness and offering not just food, but belonging, purpose, and hope.
 

From Fine Dining to Food Equity: Morgan Stewart and the Big Big Table
Renee welcomes Morgan Stewart to the podcast.   Morgan is the Volunteer and Communications Manager at Big Big Table in Buffalo, New York. After becoming disillusioned with the for-profit restaurant world, Morgan found a different way forward at Big Big Table, an intimate 16-seat space on Buffalo's Lower West Side. The café serves about 30 guests daily, from working-class legacy residents to downtown professionals, creating what Morgan calls a vital "third space" where hospitality takes precedence over charity.  At its core, this episode affirms that creating accessible spaces where people can gather, eat well, and be seen is not a band-aid but a necessary foundation for building healthier communities.
MORGAN STEWART
 
 
Since getting involved at Big Big Table Community Cafe (Buffalo, NY) in early 2023, Morgan Stewart has held many roles: volunteer, AmeriCorps service member, board member, and now, staff member. During her previous career as a restaurant chef, her interest shifted from cooking food to studying its social impact. After leaving the for-profit hospitality industry to study community development through the University at Buffalo's Urban & Regional Planning program, she earned her master's degree and began working for food-related nonprofits. As Big Big Table's Volunteer & Communications Manager, today she spends less time in the kitchen and instead focuses on administration and front-of-house operations at Western New York's first pay-as-you-can cafe. Her professional aim is to democratize the experience of dining out so that everyone has the opportunity to feel taken care of, even if just for a few minutes.
 
https://www.bigbigtable.org/
 
 

Making it easier for people to be good
Renee chats with Theresa Marten, former staff member at SAME Cafe in Denver and current program manager for the Colorado Vincentian Volunteers, to explore what it means to create spaces where people can practice being human together.
Inspired by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, Theresa found her calling at SAME Cafe, where she spent five years learning that a strong mission allows everyone to participate equally. 
The conversation explores how SAME Cafe became a place where regular guests shifted their own behavior over time, standing up for the calm, respectful space they all deserved. Theresa shares stories from the prep table where high school interns, people doing community service, and longtime volunteers worked side by side, learning that if they could collaborate here, what else might be possible on a larger scale?
Theresa also discusses her current work with young adults in a year-long service program, emphasizing that community is the antidote to burnout. She believes we are wired to serve, that caring for those most in need makes it better for everyone, and that reducing stigma around asking for help creates a healthier society for all.
https://www.soallmayeat.org/