I can’t believe we’re already at the end of April! The jasmine bushes right outside my front door have never bloomed so beautifully and fragrantly. All around the neighborhood I see things growing. After a long season of drought and rain, it is encouraging to have this beautiful, green spring!
As spring is here, I can’t help but see the new life blossoming at Old Skool Cafe. ‘Teresa’ means ‘harvest’, and for many, many years a harvest is exactly what I have been waiting for. There has been a long season of constantly laying the foundation and investing in Old Skool Cafe with slow and sometimes incremental progress. It has been over ten years since we held our first OSC gala and I began running a pilot program from my home. Then four years ago, we had the joy of opening Old Skool as a restaurant. We are seeing the harvest, indeed!
Old Skool Cafe has become a solid place for our youth to heal and grow and develop into the young men and women they were intended to be. This spring we are welcoming a new cohort of twenty young people who will become Old Skool’s future servers, chefs, and managers. We are grateful for the seemingly small harvests that are truly very big. The next time you order from our new menus or walk underneath our beautiful new marquee, you’ll know that those finishing touches are part of a longtime dream come true. Our OSC alumni continue to flourish and follow their passions in school and in new jobs. We continue to grow our catering services, which will now be under the direction of Chef Kevin. There are new faces in the kitchen and greeting guests at the front door (more on that to come!). A blossoming harvest is all around us.
With the years, my dream for Old Skool continues to grow. With fresh, new energy and eyes, we will fortify and strengthen our programs. I am consistently asked to bring Old Skool to other parts of the country, and when we’re ready to expand, we want it to be with the best practices under our belts, and the very best programs that we can provide to other communities.
And I am beyond grateful for you. Thank you for your support and your prayers. Thank you for dining with us. Thank you for donating. Thank you for inviting friends to learn more about Old Skool. And most of all, thank you for investing in our youth.
With gratitude,
Teresa Goines
