KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A month ago, The Village Initiative in Kansas City, Kansas, opened The Village Cafe to hire returning citizens in order to help them learn how to cook and other skills to find work after their return from prison.
Nearly a month after the grand opening KSHB 41 checked back in with Head Chef Jeffrey Billingsley and others about their fresh start.
"I was a drug dealer in the area, so I hurt a lot of families," he said. "Didn’t realize it then, but I did, and now I feel like I'm giving back to the people I hurt."
After being released from federal prison a few years ago and learning how to cook in New Orleans, Billingsley made his way back to KCK.
"I've been to rehab all over the country, everywhere, and it just seems like this place is the best place," Billingsley said.
Thanks to the Village Initiative, he’s the head chef at The Village Cafe — a place that hires and help returning citizens flip their life around.
"We will teach them how to cook here," he said. "They will have their culinary skills; they can go and work anywhere; plus, we house them, and everybody loves working here."
Billingsley isn't just helping people, but also fidelity coaches with the Kansas Department of Corrections who now use The Village Cafe as a training facility for peer mentors going into the prisons.
"We break the stigma associated with felons; we provide more opportunity, so they can enjoy a better life not only for them but for their families, and it makes sense for a community to want the best for these people," said Matt Oakley, a fidelity coach with the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Sitting at 1659 Washington Boulevard in KCK, this cafe is more than just a place to eat, but a beacon of hope.
“We treat everybody that comes in here equal and the food is really good so yall come try it out,” Billingsley said.
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