Mission

With love, respect and compassion, Dorothy’s Place provides essential services and transitional support to people experiencing the injustice of homelessness and extreme poverty.

The Big Idea

Dorothy’s Place is establishing a new deli, the Red Artichoke Café, which will be staffed by chronically unsheltered adults with high barriers to employment. Dorothy’s Kitchen is already well acquainted with food preparation, serving about 400 meals daily. The coupling of the cafe with the Dorothy’s Kitchen brand will give the enterprise recognizability, capitalizing on the lunch and take-out dinner desires of the large workforce of government-employed consumers who populate central Salinas. It’s also very close to the new intermodal transportation center, designed to contribute to a more walkable neighborhoods, and this new dining spot can be part of that vision for a healthier, livable community. Both Dorothy’s Kitchen and Red Artichoke Café are on their way to becoming certified by the Blue Zones Project, a health initiative promoting well-being throughout Monterey County.

Dorothy’s Kitchen helped when I was homeless and broken. It didn’t just feed me, it gave me purpose and a way to show everyone that I had talent and worth, even at the lowest point in my life. That happened first through volunteering daily, then I was hired full-time as the front-of-house coordinator. I love my work! And I want everyone who feels low, and without worth, to feel what I do now. Accomplished. Powerful. Worth it. So I’m going to help build Red Artichoke Café, because that’s Red Artichoke’s purpose. I feel honored to be part of the inaugural Red Artichoke crew, helping others achieve jobs, housing and independence.

- Julieta Borges