Crust & Core café is like any other normal café located in a lane adjacent to Chetla Police Station in Kolkata. However, there is something special about it which makes it quite unique than any other cafes.

According to a leading daily, the main aim of this café is to help and employ women who have gone through several hardships in their life. The one who have battled severe mental health issues and psycho-social disabilities found a ray of hope from this café.

image source

A case of a 21-year-old girl named Haripriya Haripriya, who was in terrible distress, unable to come to terms with her inner turmoil. She was found by a police team. She had no idea what to do and had no idea where the next moment would take her. When the police questioned her, it turned out that the young girl was abandoned by her uncle who had brought her to Kolkata from Maharashtra.

The poor girl who had almost lost everything in life is a member of the team at Crust & Core. She is passionate about baking and is excited about her future.

image source

11 other women battling some serious problems of depression, schizophrenia and other mental health issues got a new life and lots of happiness working at Crust & Core, which opened in February 2018.

An NGO named Iswar Sankalpa supports this café and employs inmates of the Chetla shelter of the NGO. As per the saying of the NGO’s assistant secretary, Rinku Soni, 90% of the women in the shelter have psycho-social disabilities.

The assistant secretary also further revealed that the professional chefs trained 22 women for a year before the project started. Some were under confident and 10 of them even opted out midway. It is evident that the ones who completed the training are leading slightly better lives now and liking the work.

image source

You can binge on pastries, pasta and an assortment of savouries which you can order online as well. The café stays shut down only on Mondays. It serves customers from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm on rest of the six days. The women work at their own pace, and quite heartening, that they enjoy what they do, according to the NGO’s secretary and co-founder, Sarbani Das Roy.

This story is truly inspirational!

Published by Mamatha on 27 Jun 2018