Program for mentally disabled launches Marin food service

MARIN COUNTY – A nonprofit dedicated to providing employment opportunities for the mentally disabled has launched a new food-service business on Marin’s super-green wellness campus as the first of several efforts to make the social enterprise environmentally friendly.

The Buckelew program, which provides employment, housing and other services to people struggling with mental health, opened the doors to its first food business late last month called the Blue Skies Cafe. The coffee and lunch cart offers healthy and sustainably made meals and drinks and is located on the new Marin County Health and Wellness Campus, a $63 million, LEED Gold-certified project that consolidates all public health services into one location.

“When we found out the wellness center was interested in getting a coffee shop, we thought this was a great opportunity for us to create more venues for employment for our clients,” said Shelley Norris-Alvarez, program director for Buckelew employment services.

“For them it also seemed like a great match because we were looking to provide healthy, culinary foods, and it was a project that integrated mental and physical health.”

The business officially opened March 20 and operates from a mobile facility in the center of the campus. The coffee is supplied from local organic roaster Equator Estate Coffee & Teas and food from San Rafael-based Jessie & Laurent food service, which utilizes locally grown produce and materials.

“We were trying to think of a skill that was always going to be there, something our clients could finish their training and find a job with, and there’s always going to be the Peet’s and the Starbucks,” Ms. Norris-Alvarez said.

Buckelew Executive Director Steve Ramsland said the San Rafael cafe will be used as a pilot to launch similar programs elsewhere in the North Bay, hopefully in Sonoma and Napa counties.

In addition to the food service, Buckelew runs a janitorial contracting enterprise called MarinWorks, as well as Blue Skies Personnel Services. In tandem with its green efforts with the cafes, the cleaning service will also become more environmentally friendly and be re-launched as Blue Skies Janitorial.

“It’s been a really successful janitorial service, but we wanted to provide an additional benefit to those who use our services,” Mr. Ramsland said.

He said the company will soon rebrand the business, but it has already begun exchanging all its traditional products for organic and natural cleansers. Also, more recyclable materials will be used and disposal will be more sustainable.

“The idea is to offer a real benefit to our customers. ... We hope they come to us because of social concern, but we want them to come back because of the value of the product.”

Buckelew provides employment to about 200 people at a time in Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties and housing to about 500. The housing programs also include support services, which can be everything from cooking and shopping to cleaning and transportation.

Eventually, Mr. Ramsland, who was hired just eight months ago, said he would like the organization’s three enterprises to sustain the program, but currently it is funded through public and private grants and county, state and federal funding. Its revenues total about $10.5 million annually.