St. Patrick Center Brings a Cafe Back to the Central Library

The nonprofit's workforce development clients will gain new skills while staffing the Sacred Grounds Café

By Paula Tredway

Dec 19, 2023 at 9:35 am

Image: St. Patrick Center's new Sacred Grounds Café at the Central Library is part of its workforce development program.

St. Patrick Center's new Sacred Grounds Café at the Central Library is part of its workforce development program. Photos by St. Louis Public Library

The St. Patrick Center has opened a new cafe at the Central Library in St. Louis’ Downtown West neighborhood.

Sacred Grounds Café (1301 Olive Street) is located on the first floor of the St. Louis Public Library branch, in the space that used to be Urban Eats’ Cafe Central. The new cafe is part of St. Patrick Center’s workforce development program, which helps train individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless as well as those with mental health or substance-abuse issues through a monthly, three-day job readiness training program.

The Catholic Charities ministry’s program is designed to help clients create a resume, cover letter and learn how to prepare for an interview. It also includes individual sessions in a computer lab to learn keyboarding, email use, internet use and more.

Clients enrolled in the barista training program will learn new skills and on-the-job training, creating handcrafted drinks such as coffees, lattes, teas and smoothies as well as some baked goods.

“[It will be] a space where community, culture, and compassion converge,” said Jared Bryson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, in a statement.

click to enlarge

Photos by St. Louis Public Library

Clients of St. Patrick Center who are enrolled in the barista training program learn and train to create handcrafted drinks and baked goods to sell at the cafe.

Sacred Grounds Café isn’t the first of its kind.

St. Patrick’s hospitality-focused program began in 1990 at McMurphy’s Grill, but the business closed down in 2012 and was replaced with two McMurphy’s Express locations downtown. After two years, only one of the locations remained operating and re-opened as McMurphy’s Cafe, finally closing its doors in 2017.

"We are very excited to bring Café Central back to service as an amenity for customers of Central Library,” said SLPS CEO Waller McGuire in a statement. “St. Patrick Center brings extensive experience to the café and a model that directly supports people in our community that need it most.”

Cafe Central is open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the cafe from 8 to 9 a.m. on Wednesday, December 20.

Email the author at ptredway@riverfronttimes.com

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Paula Tredway

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