Taste of Lindsay Heights Café Shows How Collaborative Entrepreneurship Can Push Milwaukee Forward
The Taste of Lindsay Heights Café grand opening was October 2, 2021. (Picture taken from Instagram)
Instead of telling the community what they want, Walnut Way Conservation Corp. spent two to three years listening to their residents’ talents, desires and small business ideas through their Community Wealth Building program. The goal of the program is to build a more cohesive neighborhood in Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights, where Walnut Way is located.
Community members were sectioned off into groups based on their desired interest. Some of those groups included food, construction and health, with the food group having the strongest desire to push forward.
Together Walnut Way, community residents and other partners created Taste of Lindsay Heights Café: a carryout café that features six local Black woman entrepreneurs. The Milwaukee Center for Independence (MCFI) provides shared kitchen facilities and United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee (UNCOM) helps the café with staffing through Employ Milwaukee.
“I want [the café] to be a symbol of collective impact. A model of collective entrepreneurship,” said Walnut Way Executive Director Antonio Butts. “The work is complex but the complexity of the work drives the value of the outcomes.”
The grand opening was held on October 2, 2021 with over 300 people in attendance. According to Butts, the café has encountered over 200 new customers and counting.
The café offers smoothes, lemonade, tea, ginger shots, fruit, snacks and more.
Imani Raiyne of Kreative Fruitz is one of the café’s entrepreneurs. Kreative Fruitz offers customized fresh fruit displays, bowls and watermelon boats for any occasion. For the café, Kreative Fruitz offers fruit cups, dipped fruits, parfaits, and snack/lunch boxes.
Raiyne and her late mother used to create fruit art when she was younger. With them both having health issues due to their lupus, creating art with fruit is something that helped them both keep pushing through the pain. After Raiyne lost her mother in 2017 due to the disease and some encouragement from her dad, Raiyne founded her company Kreative Fruitz.
Raiyne along with the other entrepreneurs want to make Milwaukee a healthier city.
“It means health. It means wellness. It means passion, life. Fruit means everything because it can be integrated into our every day lives,” said Raiyne.
The entrepreneurs of Taste of Lindsay Heights Café can be found here.
Taste of Lindsay Heights Café is located at 1617 W. North Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53205 and is open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CST. To find out more, click here.