WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Food Works, a Bloomington business venture to employ victims of abuse, has shut down.
The Middle Way House food preparation business was founded in 2002, with the mission to train and provide job experience to the women housed in the domestic violence shelter.
Middle Way House Outreach Communications Coordinator Sarah Hunt stated the Food Works site is available as a commercial rental space, in a press release yesterday.
Hunt says while Food Works served as a vocational training and jobs incubator for many of Middle Way House’s clientele, the costs of sustaining the program drained the shelter’s funds.
Hunt says, in an attempt to make Food Works financially solvent, Middle Way House briefly worked with local grocer Bloomingfoods. That agreement ended in the Fall of 2016.
Hunt says Middle Way House has sold Food Works’ kitchen equipment, and the commercial space on 318 S. Washington St. is now up for rent; it’s their hope the rent will help will help pay for other programming.
Hunt says shutting down Food Works was a difficult decision for Middle Way House’s Board of Directors and administration. Middle Way House Executive Director Debra Morrow was formerly a client of the shelter, and was employed through Food Works.
