By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The Town Council this week authorized the expenditure of $150,000 in ARPA funds to support “INspire Cafe.”
INspire Cafe is a partnership of families and supporters along with the Boys & Girls Club to provide meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with diverse abilities and to showcase their hard work, capabilities, and value to the entire community.
The ARPA funding will help INspire Cafe to secure it’s new location at 411 Main St. (the former location of The Bread Shop). The funds will reportedly be used to help make the space ADA compliant.
Marie Rej of Montclare Ave. appeared before the Town Council along with others last week to urge the board to fund the request, which was initiated by Town Councilor Anne Danehy. Rej is vice chair of the Commission on Disabilities and a well-known advocate for the disabled community.
She explained that INspire Cafe is a venture of the Boys & Girls Club in partnership with the Friends of INspire Cafe. She explained that the cafe would offer employment opportunities for individuals with diverse abilities and intellectual disabilities, allowing them to work and thrive in Wakefield while providing a sense of belonging.
Anthony Guardia of the Boys $ Girls Club told the Town Council that Middlesex Investment Partners has committed $1 million to fund an upgrade of the new location.
Janis Mamayek of Melrose, Chair of the Friends of INspire Cafe also spoke at last weeks Town Council meeting. She will be providing her services as an architect for the upgrade of the premises. She noted that INspire has become a nonprofit corporation registered with the state.
The vote to use $150,000 from ARPA funds for INspire Cafe came as part of a wide-ranging discussion at last week’s Town Council meeting regarding how to spend the town’s remaining $2,048,227 in ARPA funds.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed into law on March 11, 2021 to speed up the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession.
At the end of last week’s discussion, the Town Council agreed to fund the $150,000 for INspire Cafe along with $25,000 for an assessment of the town’s historic monuments and structures.
The board was asked to rank other priorities for the remaining ARPA funds in preparation for a further discussion at next week’s meeting.
