.: Cafe & Hot Meals/ Barter Program :: Sisters of the Road :.

All are welcome, stop in for lunch!

Meals at Sisters Of The Road cost $1.25 and can be paid for in many ways, including: cash, barter work and food stamps. Meals are served with hospitality and a smile. There is always a choice of at least two hot, delicious and nutritious entrees and always a vegetarian option. Come have a bite to eat at Sisters -we would love your company! We serve between 10am and 3pm Monday through Friday. Sisters is not a charity – but an exchange of good will, companionship and work.

It’s been said that to work at Sisters, you have to be one part Gandhi and one part health inspector! - Genny Nelson

Since 1979 we have operated in the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood, and the entire community – both people passing through and those living here their entire lives – have come to depend on the cafe for its safety, its hospitality, and perhaps most importantly, the opportunities for barter and job training. With our philosophy of nonviolence and strict adherence to health code, it’s been said that our staff are one part Gandhi and one part health inspector! We earned a 99% on our Health Inspection this year - not an easy feat.

Did you know that in 1987 we helped pass national food stamp legislation to implement a USDA policy that allows people experiencing homelessness to use their food stamps to buy prepared meals from nonprofit cafes? We became the first cafe to implement the policy, and have since continued to distribute our manual Dining with Dignity to those interested in starting one of these cafes. Call (503) 222-5694 for more info.

A homeless person’s best advocate is themselves. - Jimmy Baca

Who we serve

Sisters is unique in that meals served are available to everyone who walks through the door, regardless of their ability to pay. Neither do you have to be low-income to dine with us; we welcome people of all classes to come build community over a delicious meal.

Family Advocacy and Support

We make a special effort to help children and their families with services including information, referral and advocacy; hygiene kits; diapers; and some toys. There is a special children’s area and two tables just for families with children to be treated specially while at the cafe. Single parents with their children eat for free, a service provided by other customers/barter workers in the cafe to help single parents and their kids. Sisters’ staff take special time out to check in with children and families and offer friendship and support.

Did you know?
The Oregon Food Bank reports that more than half of all food stamp recipients are children, and more than 80% of food stamp benefits go to families with children. And yet, one in five Oregon children live in a food insecure home – perhaps because the average food stamp allotment hovers around 98¢ per meal. Food insecurity means uncertain of having or being able to acquire enough food to meet basic needs because their household has insufficient money or resources for food. For the full report, click here. To learn more about the problem of food insecurity, click here.

Numbers served

We serve an average of 400 meals per day; in fiscal year 2006-2007 we served 71,802 meals. Come check out our little kitchen and you’ll be amazed! Because we have many repeat customers and we do not track individuals, we estimate that we serve about 1,000 different people at least once in any month, equaling 12,000 a year.

Last year general need was up in our area since the closing of the Tacoma Cafe, which was the only other cafe that took food stamps, and the fact that people do not get the food stamp money they used to: the common allotment is down to $21 per person per week. To learn more, click here.

$21 per person per week [in food stamps]. How far can a person stretch those kinds of dollars if they are on the street and living out of the Plaid Pantry? - Nikki Jardin, former Cafe Operations Manger

Barter Work at Sisters

Over half of the meals we served were earned through our Barter Program. The purpose of this program is to provide men and women with the opportunity to obtain a nutritious meal with dignity.

As an example, customers can spend fifteen minutes of their day mopping the floor, taking out the garbage, or sweeping the front stoop and earn $1.50 in credit at the Café – enough for a hot plate of food and a drink. Furthermore, a customer may barter for several hours at the rate of $6.00/hour meal credit. A three hour shift results in $18.00 in meal credit – enough money to eat for a few weeks at the Café or to treat friends. Barter workers can put “money on their books” to use later or to share a meal with a friend. Sisters is the only restaurant in Portland that provides an ongoing avenue for individuals who want to work in exchange for meals.

Other services

In addition to meals, the Hot Meal/Barter Program offers several services:

A telephone for an urgent call
A phone message board
U.S. Mail
Hygiene supplies
A safe and clean children’s play area and tables for families
Safe and clean public Restrooms
Information regarding services
job recommendations

Sisters isn’t a restaurant, it’s a friend. I always feel better after I leave here - the whole rest of my day improves. It’s part of the reason I’m not doing drugs and alcohol, and why I’ve started back to school.
- A Sister’s Customer

We hope you’ll consider joining us in fighting hunger and building community!

Facts About Hunger

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found Oregon to be among the most food-insecure and hungry states in the nation; this hits the elderly and infirm members of our community especially hard. The Oregon Food Bank reported that in a 2004 survey of those who received emergency food boxes from the Food Bank network, 31% of recipients of emergency food boxes were retired or disabled or both.

Neither are people’s food stamp benefits keeping pace with their need. The Oregon Food Bank survey also found that two-thirds (66%) of those getting food boxes who also received food stamps ran out of food stamps within the first two weeks of the month, and almost ALL of them (95%) ran out within the third week of the month. Our busiest time of every month in the café is the last two weeks, mirroring the truth that people’s benefits are not meeting their nutritional needs.