Amos House
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Rhode Island's largest soup kitchen and a comprehensive social service agency, Amos House started Amos House Works as a outgrowth of its Amos Culinary Education (ACE) program teaching culinary skills to individuals with various barriers to employment including homelessness or criminal background. Since 2004 Amos House Works has operated a thriving school lunch business and private catering business. Both serve as a training ground for Amos House clients enrolled in the ACE program, providing clients transitional employment opportunity and experience in preparation for jobs in the community. Amos House has graduated 189 men and women from the program, and 60% have secured food service jobs.
SVPRI has provided both financial support and technical expertise assisting Amos House with its business plan, which was selected as a finalist in the Yale-Goldman Sachs business plan competition for nonprofits. Today the business operates as More Than a Meal catering and serves 1,000 school age children each weekday, provides permanent jobs for four ACE graduates, and employs an Executive Chef and Business Manager. Profits from this social enterprise are reinvested to strengthen and build capacity in the ACE program.
Quite simply, it is not likely that we would have a business, let alone the successful business that we have, if it were not for the dedication and guidance that we have received from our SVPRI partners. Eileen Hayes, Executive Director Amos House
Our SVPRI partners brought valuable experience in business management that allowed us to develop a viable business plan. They used their resources and their network to help us grow the business and provided enormous help in the decision making process along the way. Eileen Hayes, Executive Director Amos House