Cafe The Lodge

It’s the guiding principle behind the Lodge—Fairweather Lodge Housing is named after psychologist George Fairweather, who found that patients with mental illness fared much better during recovery if they lived and worked together in a community.

“Something I always tell the people I work with is that no matter who you are, mental illness or not, if you aren’t engaged and living a productive life, you aren’t going to be well,” he says. “We are our best when we are living meaningful lives and our program is here to help people find and achieve those meaningful lives.”

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Located on Bethlehem’s South Side, not only does Fig Bethlehem’s 2019 Social Mission Partner Café the Lodge have a diverse selection of great food and a tranquil terrace in the back, it also explicitly employs and empowers those with mental health diagnoses. The Lodge offers guidance in establishing independent living routines and wholesome lifestyles, providing employment and volunteer opportunities as well as recreational and educational events for its members and for the community at large.

Make Café the Lodge a regular breakfast and lunch dining destination. It’s a delicious way to support their mission!

Cafe the Lodge in South Bethlehem is not only a hardworking nonprofit that employs and empowers up to 18 individuals with mental health diagnoses to practice skills for independent living and competitive employment in the community.  it's not only a place to get delicious, freshly prepared food. It's also a vibrant art space that features artwork from residents, staff and community members, in exhibits that rotate throughout the year.

In a project part of the SouthSide Arts and Music Festival, the Chilean born artist is collaborating with ArtsQuest on an interactive art experience and mural designed to raise awareness of the challenges people face when dealing with mental health issues. Senior Director of Visual Arts at ArtsQuest, Stacie Brennan, says, “I think this mural does a great job of raising awareness on multiple levels; both around the issue of mental health and community awareness that people can drive by and see this (it will brighten their day) but also help them realize it’s something that we are all dealing with in our community. And it will also raise awareness for what public art can do for a community; for people to feel ownership and engagement in the area that they live in.” 

WFMZ's stopped by this morning to preview this weekend's festival!    Alexandra Hogan reports on 69 News at Sunrise.   ‘Calma’ is a 43 foot wide by 35 foot tall painting that is being created on the west wall of Cafe The Lodge. But this isn't just another wall on another street. The site of Quintanajornet’s latest project is popping up alongside a place to eat well and do good. Cafe The Lodge explicitly employs and empowers those with mental health diagnoses.   The Cafe employs up to 18 people at any given time, while the Lodge houses a dozen individuals in the community. It’s all to inspire independent living and employment for those with mental health challenges.  

Renowned mural artist Pau Quintanajornet believes through her work she provides food for the soul.   Her  latest piece promises to follow that mantra, a mural adorning the  exterior of Cafe the Lodge in South Bethlehem that seeks to bring  awareness about mental health.  "I  look forward to this experience and hope to bring some colorful  mindfulness to Bethlehem and its community,” Quintanajornet says.

Quintanajornet,  in collaboration with ArtsQuest, will be creating her mural through May  5 at Cafe the Lodge, which is at 427 E. Fourth St. The mural will be a  continuation of her “artivist” project “Project Wallflowers," which she  began in 2013. It will be also be part of the upcoming 2019 SouthSide  Arts & Music Festival, which runs May 3 and 4 at various sites in  South Bethlehem.

Cafe the Lodge’s unique focus on recovery and art caught the attention of the 2019 SouthSide Arts & Music Festival, which selected the Cafe as the site for a mural by renowned artist Pau Quintanajornet. “With each person that comes into the Café, we are given the opportunity to show them what recovery looks like,” said Cafe the Lodge Director Ian Panyko. “This project, I think, shows that we’ve had an impact and that people support what we’re doing. We were

thrilled. It was incredible to hear that it was going to be possible.

“The community was engaging the artist while she was working it,” Panko said. “Pau fit right in with all of us and it was very common to see her sitting with community members and individuals in the morning having breakfast and waxing philosophical over a cup of coffee.“ There were many days that I would be talking to Pau on her lift when a car would slow down and shout support across the street. This mural was exactly what the community wanted.” At RHD we work hard to deliver the highest-quality services to people in need, and have the maximum impact possible in the communities where we operate. It’s a wonderful and humbling experience when the community responds, and supports our mission. RHD’s Cafe the Lodge is a great example of that. “One of the wonderful things about the mural arts program has been the ability to engage the community through normalized interactions and challenge the stereotype of ‘mental illness,'" Panyko said. “This project put more attention on that, and we have welcomed it!”