Youth support social enterprise Emerge Cafe to relocate to new high visibility venue

After two and a half years in its current location in Station Street, this social enterprise is picking up and moving to a new high-visibility venue.

Emerge are on the move and relocating to the Engine Room on the corner of Taylor and Railway Streets. From left; James Doige, Hayley Jenkins, Jen Shaw, Casey Elizabeth, Jaichelle Bligh.

It’s on to bigger and better things for social enterprise Emerge Toowoomba.

The Station Street cafe, which has been a home to the charity and its goal of supporting and empowering disadvantaged young people for two and a half years, is relocating.

An “amazing opportunity” to move into the space that was once occupied by the Engine Room Cafe was too good to pass up for founder Jen Shaw.

“Our lease was up in June anyway at our cafe, and we were umming and ahing about what to do because the rent was so high,” she explained.

“And we were given a really amazing opportunity to move into the old Engine Room Cafe.

“We negotiated a better deal, which means we can put more money into giving kids jobs, which is the most important thing.”

Ms Shaw said she hoped the new, more accessible location on the corner of Railway and Taylor Streets would lead to an increase in customers.

She said even after Two-and-a-half years at Station Street, people were still phoning up to ask where they were located.

“Hopefully we’ll be busier – that’s the plan,” she said.

“Change is scary but it’s also pretty awesome.

“Lots of kids need support at the moment.”

Thursday, April 1, will be Emerge’s last day of trade at its Station Street headquarters.

They aim to be running at Railway Street by May 1.

“It’s been a long time in the works, but it still feels like its happening all of a sudden,” she said.

“We’ve just been reassuring our young people … our youth services will be operating as normal and a lot of the kids will be jumping in and giving us a hand through that period.

“They’ll be becoming builders and renovators and learning a whole new skill set – they’re really excited.”

The cafe employs a dozen young people to earn income and skills, and also supports long-term accommodation options for young people.

Emerge was founded by Ms Shaw, who grew up in Toowoomba and spent much of that time on the streets, out of school, and disengaged from her family, and who wanted to give young people opportunities to succeed.