Cafe R'vive: A Revival Hotspot For Not Just Customers But Also Employees Who Are Residents Of IMH

The community cafe R'vive was launched by Institute of Mental Health along with restaurateur Mahadevan's Chennai Mission, for providing employment to people with mental illness.

Chennai: A beautiful cafe painted all white with glass ceilings, visible sky and rustic furniture giving a warm welcome to the customers is located right next to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). Not just the ambiance, the newly-opened cafe has become a hit among the people for the piping hot coffee and baked goodies including cake and cookies. However, the credits for all the warmth just do not rest with the ambiance and the food but it truly comes from recovering mental health patients from the Institute of Mental Health, who are running the cafe. 

According to reports, the community cafe R'vive was launched by the Institute of Mental Health along with restaurateur Mahadevan's Chennai Mission, for providing employment to people with mental illness. Apart from the recovering patients of IMH, the cafe also employs people from marginalized backgrounds and acid attack victims.

The survivors work in two shifts with their aim to give back to society. The hotel owners are also running the cafe to provide motivation for the survivors and to remove the stigma among people since Kilpauk is known only for the IMH. 

Talking to The Hindu, Mahadevan, restauranter and founder of Hot Breads said that they have employed nine in and out patients of IMH with training and that they are planning to employ more survivors. The restaurateur also said that they have also decided to give the profit of the restaurant to the welfare of the mental health survivors in IMH.

Even though the cafe has started to function, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramaian will inaugurate the venture.

Even earlier, six IMH residents were working at Writer's Cafe in Egmore for six months before the pandemic. The Hot Breads also co-jointly runs bakeries with prison authorities, corporations and NGOs as a way of giving back to society with zero profit. Hot Breads runs Freedom Bakery at Puzhal Central jail, Give Life Care at Loyola and Popcause with Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu, said reports.