Sep 30, 2019 5 min read

Canonsburg has plans to build a place for a friendly cup of joe and a “fresh start” for anyone in need.

The Fresh Start Café is a concept that’s been two years in the making, birthed by Communities Moving Forward, a coalition of civic leaders and the Greater Canonsburg Houston Ministerial Association.

“The mission of this is to help people,” said Don Coleman, pastor of Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church and member of the coalition. “We want to provide a safe space for people, no matter their circumstance, and provide information for someone who may be seeking help with substance abuse issues.”

The plan for Suite 3 at 117 W. Pike St. is to build a community of hope and friendship by first building a coffee shop. The coalition wants to offer its future customers a fresh cup of coffee, a fresh pastry (or two), and a fresh start to their day and their tomorrows.

They plan to have a multitude of resources and pamphlets for people in recovery or seeking help with addition. The people running it will be able to provide contact information for organizations that help with drug and alcohol addiction.

But it’s not a rehabilitation center, said George DiLeo, founding member of the coalition. There won’t be any counseling sessions, and the space won’t be specifically meant for customers with substance abuse disorders.

“It’s going to be a coffee shop first,” DiLeo said.

They plan to offer soups and sandwiches, pastries and cookies and coffee in iced, latte or cappuccino form with several different brew options.

Nicolas Ambiliotios, owner of The Mediterra Bakehouse and Bread Factory in Pittsburgh, is a parishioner at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in Canonsburg. The group has asked him to help “guide” their café business, since Ambiliotios opened a café in Sewickley earlier this year. They plan to use his coffee supplier and sell his Mediterra breads and pastries out of Fresh Start.

They want to make it a comfortable space for everyone with food and drink options, as well as provide information on the local food bank, Meals on Wheels, Canonsburg-Houston Toy Chest and other nearby nonprofits that help people in need.

Even if those needs aren’t physical, the café will be a place to find someone with whom to talk, or confide – a place for conversations that bloom into friendships, making the community a better place to live, work and thrive.

“There’s a lot of loneliness in this world – loneliness because of addiction, loneliness because of recovery, loneliness because of divorce or really anything,” said Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome, who’s been working with the coalition to build the café. “When you are lonely, you can go here to have the handshake, the conversation and the cup of coffee. Those are the people we want to be a focus point.”

The Rev. George L. Livanos, of All Saints Greek Orthodox Church and coalition member, said his vision for the café is for it to become “the community’s living room,” where residents can find “more than just your average cup of coffee.”

“It’s a fresh start for not only the day but for anyone who has any types of needs within the community,” he said. “It’s right in the heart of town because that’s what’s missing here: human connections to human needs.”

He said pastors of all faiths in the community as well as politicians and civic leaders will play rotating roles as maitre d’ to have conversations with customers and get to know the community.

“You’ll be greeted by these people as if you’re coming into their home,” Livanos said. “This is more than just a regular business. That union between the businesses, civic leaders and the churches really gives us a unique opportunity to serve the community.”

So far, the space has been boarded up with plywood for about a year, but the group knew going into this that it would be a time-consuming project. Coleman said they could have opened a coffee shop by now, but they wanted something that would “last and have an impact on the community.”

“The heart has been leading this project from the beginning,” Coleman said. “We recognized that we didn’t want to do something halfway. We knew we needed to completely gut the building to have a premier space.”

Livanos said since they wanted to maintain the space as a nonprofit, they’ve been relying on donations and fundraisers to secure money for rent and renovations. They’ve also received “labor donations.”

The group has raised more than $27,000 so far, DiLeo said. Most of that has come from area churches, including $10,000 from First United Presbyterian Houston and $5,000 each from All Saints and Canonsburg UP. Liberty Lumber also gave $5,000 and several other organizations and individuals have contributed to the cause.

George Loutsion, a member of All Saints and the coalition, said they need about another $75,000 to finish the building, which has been vacant for a while. He said the group has ordered glass windows and doors for the storefront. Getting that installed will be the next step, he said.

“It really will be a one-of-a-kind café,” Livanos said.