KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A program that provides adult offenders community-based alternatives to incarceration is expanding its food service program in Kalamazoo.
KPEP will celebrate the grand opening of its second Walnut & Park café in downtown Kalamazoo with an event for local and state elected officials, community stakeholders, partners and referral agencies Friday morning. The ceremony begins at 11:00 a.m.
After the successful launch of KPEP’s first Walnut & Park café in 2017, the community corrections provider says it’s responding to tremendous community support by opening a second location in the River’s Edge District. The new café can seat 32 and includes patio seating with room to grow.
It is located in the Harrison Circle Apartments Retail Complex, 525 East Ransom Street, Kalamazoo.
The menu offers breakfast baked goods and a light lunch fare with a wide selection of wraps, sandwiches and snacks along with several barista favorites.
Like the original Walnut & Park, named for its corner location in the Vine St. neighborhood, the new café is staffed largely by residents of KPEP, a community corrections provider based in Kalamazoo. Led by a management team, the staff members are students or graduates of the KPEP hospitality and culinary arts program, a rigorous eight week vocational training program that equips men and women who have been incarcerated with job skills to live independently.
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