Hope Blooms is an organization focused on empowering youth in the North End of Kjipuktuk. A significant portion of their work addresses food insecurity in their community. We are grateful for the opportunity to have met with Hope Blooms in August 2022. Through interviews with the Hope Blooms community, we collected the knowledge articulated below. We aim to offer insight on what a community kitchen can look like in the context of a youth-based organization.
Hope Blooms
Our Community Kitchen
Since 2008, the kitchen at Hope Blooms has operated as a community space. Our community and staff use this space the most.
The typical functions of the kitchen at Hope Blooms are:
To carry out Hope Blooms salad dressing production;
The site of Hope Blooms culinary programs;
A space for Hope Blooms community members to cook;
A space to prepare community suppers for parents of the youth.
Our Food
The food cooked in the Hope Blooms community kitchen are sourced from predominantly local farms and when necessary, commercial grocery stores. A few food sources include:
The Hope Blooms community garden on site;
Conrad’s Farm;
Ketty’s Farm;
Noggins Farm;
The Italian Market.
How to use our space
Hope Blooms opens the doors of its licensed community kitchen to all community members who respect and honour Hope Blooms philosophy. Prior to renting this space, people are encouraged to ask themselves the following questions: (1) How does this request support Hope Blooms objectives? (2) How does this request serve the community?
Renting Protocol
Hope Blooms establishes rental agreements based on the context of the folks interested in renting their kitchen. A fee to cover the cost of cleaning the space after the rental and to compensate any staff who need to work overtime is established specific to the context of the rental request as well. Generally, folks interested in renting this space must:
have liability insurance
place a damage deposit
one person with food safety training
Hopw Blooms’ Taylor MacDonald (left) and Craig Cain (right) meeting with Yolanda Watungwa (middle) at Hope Blooms Aug 2022
Community Kitchen Tip
Community kitchens thrive when treated as dynamic spaces created by and for its community.
Hope Blooms is truly by and for its local community and neighbourhood. The space feels like a home in terms of its infrastructure and the relationship and undeniable sense of between staff, organizers, and youth programming participants.
