Toowoomba charity Emerge’s plea for more customers at its CBD cafe goes viral on social media, as organiser considers shutting doors

On the same day a leading youth charity discussed closing the doors to its cafe, it also took in a teenager sleeping on a playground slide. Now the organisation’s heartbreaking social media post has gone viral.

Jen Shaw of Emerge.

One of Toowoomba’s leading charities that empowers young people battling homelessness and other disadvantages has made a heartbreaking plea for more customers at its CBD cafe, saying it is considering shutting the doors.

Emerge, which runs a cafe on Station St in the city centre that employs and upskills youths, said it is still struggling to employ its staff and pay the bills.

Co-ordinator Jen Shaw’s social media post, which has gone viral with more than 1600 shares, said the organisation had the ability to help young people who fell through the cracks.

“Today Chef Sherry and I had a few tough conversations about wether or not we keep the cafe in Station St open, whether we find a cheaper venue or what on earth do we do next,” she wrote.

“It’s tough, but right now we are barely making enough to keep our full staff load employed.

“On the same day, we are the only service in our town who said yes to housing and supporting a 14 year old boy who’s been sleeping in a slide in the park.

“It’s a tough balance, knowing that if we close, things will just go back to the way they’ve always been for kids in our community; slipping through the cracks, getting lost in the shadows.”

The charity currently employs 12 young people at the cafe, and shelters up to six other youths in its 360 House.

This isn’t the first time Emerge has had to plea for support with the public, with the organisation revealing in June last year it was struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Shaw said the cafe needed $1500 a day coming through the doors to ensure all staff could remain employed.

“We’ve got runs on the board with kids in our community and you only have to pop in and chat with the kids we’ve worked with to see it with your own eyes and witness their transformation,” she said.

“And yet every other day we try and figure out how we are going to pay the bills and keep on helping kids.

“We really need you guys to back us, or we just don’t know what we might have to do next.

“We need more customers through our front doors, ordering coffee, meals and catering.

“Every time you purchase from us you literally employ a young person who is working hard to turn life around, giving them an opportunity that most have never had before.”

The cafe can be found at 1 Station St in Toowoomba CBD.

To donate, you can send money to Emerge Toowoomba Inc, with the BSB of 814282 and an account number of 50805367.