GraceFull Cafe
GraceFull Cafe
5610 S. Curtice Street, Littleton, CO80120
GraceFull Cafe is a community cafe in Historic Downtown Littleton. Through their partnership with GraceFull Foundation, the cafe offers meals to anyone regardless of their ability pay. GraceFull is a craft coffee shop with a full kitchen that serves breakfast and lunch daily, Tuesday – Saturday.
Heather Greenwood is the owner and co-founder of GraceFull. Her explanation of GraceFull Cafe’s origin is that her small-town farming roots ran deeper than she realized. Being raised in a rural community formed her value of cultivating a healthier, more connected, and stronger community. Her diverse past experiences of being a CPA, a High School teacher, a community volunteer, and in the food service industry, all contributed to the unique aptitude to lead both the culture and operations of the cafe. The culminating factor in forming the concept of GraceFull Cafe was her family living in Uganda for 10 months learning about the importance of food in building community. Heather returned to the States and developed the GraceFull Cafe business plan while working at Snooze, a local favorite breakfast and lunch restaurant. She also benefitted from the work and wisdom of SAME Cafe and Cafe 180, two other community cafes. GraceFull opened its doors to serve the community in 2016.
Heather acknowledges the hard work in cultivating a community space where all are welcome. The challenges for many of those on the margins have become even harder in the last few years with increase in addiction, mental illness, loneliness, and economic instability. Holding the tension of profit and purpose at GraceFull requires protecting their culture with clear expectations and guidelines. Heather’s background in education reinforces her belief that education and personal experience can break down the anxiety, fear, and anger that commonly exist for those who live on the margins in our communities. She sees the cafe as a precious asset worth protecting, and does so with clear priorities and specific practices. Invitation and accountability are both seen as essential to keep GraceFull Cafe a place where everyone can gather, eat well, and belong.
Currently about 60% of the meals GraceFull Cafe serves everyday are subsidized by the GraceFull Foundation. The foundation is financially supported by recurring giving, individual gifts, and grants. It requires around 100 volunteers each month to operate the cafe as it has a limited full-time staff. Volunteering at GraceFull is an opportunity to serve the community, learn, and connect with new people. There are intentional educational and collaborative opportunities for local businesses to support the cafe including Fund a Friday and Community Breakfasts.
GraceFull is a community cafe, located in a beautiful sage green home in Littleton, where people of all backgrounds gather around tables to share meals and share stories. It is creative collaboration between a business and nonprofit operating at the intersection of some of the most challenging issues in our society. GraceFull Cafe is a sacred place.
