Welcome to STEAM Café
We are hoping for a grant to open a brick & mortar proof of concept café!
Community Center & Café with a Reentry Learning Academy
State Justice-Impacted Citizens
Join our Community!
Join formerly incarcerated citizens and loved ones of the incarcerated to learn & share info related to justice https://tinyurl.com/ycsc4nev
Coalition for Higher Education in Florida Prisons
Join us to make it happen
The journey is just beginning to bring higher education into all Florida prisons. Now that Pell Grants have been reinstated for incarcerated people, we want to make it as equitable as possible. Currently, there are only a few facilities that offer the chance to earn a college degree. We believe all Florida incarcerated people should be given the same opportunities as students. Most of the prison population (95%) will eventually be released into their communities. Research shows that education vastly improves recidivism rates and makes communities safer.
About Us
STEAM CAFE
Community Center & Cafe
Our founder
The STEAM Café is in the conceptual pre-seed stage. We are looking for investors so that we can open a brick & mortar site.
We are in the process of obtaining a Food Truck to start raising funds.
We are also in the process of starting a CDL training school with an affiliate located in Tampa.
Thank you for bearing with us in these beginning
The STEAM Café is in the conceptual pre-seed stage. We are looking for investors so that we can open a brick & mortar site.
We are in the process of obtaining a Food Truck to start raising funds.
We are also in the process of starting a CDL training school with an affiliate located in Tampa.
Thank you for bearing with us in these beginning stages. We will get there eventually.
We are sustainable and scalable. The revenue from the café will be used to enhance the learning center.
Our founder
Community Center & Cafe
Our founder
Welcome! My name is Kristina Hodgdon and I am the founder of the STEAM Café based in Naples, FL where I reside. I am hoping to find a passionate co-founder as doing this alone is difficult. A reentry person would be very welcome and remote is ok too.
My background is in psychology, paralegal, and data analysis. I am a lifelong learner and
Welcome! My name is Kristina Hodgdon and I am the founder of the STEAM Café based in Naples, FL where I reside. I am hoping to find a passionate co-founder as doing this alone is difficult. A reentry person would be very welcome and remote is ok too.
My background is in psychology, paralegal, and data analysis. I am a lifelong learner and volunteer. I am also the survivor of a major stroke in 2015. This heightened my belief in second chances! I decided to use my second chance to help others get the same. I have a passion for criminal justice reform through education and for helping people gain a sense of belonging in their community.
Community Center & Cafe
Community Center & Cafe
Community Center & Cafe
Our unique model includes a community center and café where everyone can enjoy comfort food while participating in an activity, class, entertainment event, or just relaxing with a book. It is a place for ALL people to come together as a community to overcome loneliness, feel positive connections and a sense of belonging.
We will have various rooms for activities, events, and classes.
Learning Academy
Holistic Support for reentry
Community Center & Cafe
Our staff will work with employers willing to hire our group of "untapped talented" individuals. The employers will provide us with the skills and qualifications needed to fill their open positions. We will also focus on STEAM courses as added value skills. In order to practice soft skills, our learners are required to work temporarily in
Our staff will work with employers willing to hire our group of "untapped talented" individuals. The employers will provide us with the skills and qualifications needed to fill their open positions. We will also focus on STEAM courses as added value skills. In order to practice soft skills, our learners are required to work temporarily in the café. Gainful employment has the ability to lower recidivism rates, make communities safer, and allow our learners and their children a chance to thrive.
Holistic Support for reentry
Holistic Support for reentry
Holistic Support for reentry
Our focus is on supporting marginalized groups in the community. Our students consist primarily of reentry citizens (formerly incarcerated), returning veterans, and at-risk teens. We empower our learners to overcome the barriers they face by guiding our participants as they build the most out of these challenges.
Mission
Holistic Support for reentry
Holistic Support for reentry
The mission of the team at STEAM Café is to create a welcoming Community Center where all community members can enjoy food, activities, events, and learning. We want to provide marginalized people an equal chance of employment in a field of their interest. We promise to support learners from day one along their journey by providing them w
The mission of the team at STEAM Café is to create a welcoming Community Center where all community members can enjoy food, activities, events, and learning. We want to provide marginalized people an equal chance of employment in a field of their interest. We promise to support learners from day one along their journey by providing them with the tools to succeed in a society that still discriminates and stigmatizes. Our mission is to recognize the barriers by listening to individuals and their unique needs to outcomes with self-confidence
Vision
Vision
Vision
We envision a Florida where reentry citizens and others have a fair and equitable chance at employment by acquiring highly sought-after skills in the workforce. We hope to create a place where all community members feel a sense of acceptance and a sense of belonging.
Values
Vision
Vision
We value all humans despite any mistakes they have made. We feel that anyone who is accountable deserves a second chance to give back to society in a positive way. We strive to reimagine reentry through a holistic, human-centered approach to education, employment, housing, transportation, physical and mental health, and more.
Goals
Vision
Goals
To make job training available to reentry citizens, veterans, and ar-risk teens so that they can demonstrate their value to their communities and themselves. Families throughout Florida suffer when a loved one is incarcerated. We want to provide them with support and hope during this difficult time. We want to be able to eventually educat
To make job training available to reentry citizens, veterans, and ar-risk teens so that they can demonstrate their value to their communities and themselves. Families throughout Florida suffer when a loved one is incarcerated. We want to provide them with support and hope during this difficult time. We want to be able to eventually educate and provide counseling to the partners/spouses and children of incarcerated citizens in an effort to decrease systemic racism and poverty in the US. We hope that our STEAM Café will inspire other entrepreneurs and social justice advocates to use our business model, possibly in the form of a franchise.