Giving back: Isaiah 61 Cafe serves breakfast, fellowship to first responders

LACONIA — Volunteers at Isaiah 61 Café help provide the city’s less fortunate residents with a hot meal and other amenities, and on Thursday, they also helped feed the first responders who often work right alongside them.

The inaugural First Responders Appreciation Breakfast took place from 6 to 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 23, and offered a full array of food including scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, beans, home fries, two types of quiches and an egg pie. Coffee and juice were available, as well as various pastries and sweets.

“[Fire] Chief [Tim] Joubert and eight or nine officers at the fire department were here this morning to enjoy a nice buffet breakfast,” said Ray Boelig, who spearheaded the appreciation breakfast. “They also took a dozen bags back to other firefighters. That is perfect. It was the whole idea.”

Boelig said about 35 first responders were served, including workers from the Laconia Fire and Police departments, the Probation Department, and the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office. Breakfast was also offered to employees from Concord Hospital-Laconia and Concord Hospital-Franklin, but he said a conference in Manchester conflicted with their participation.

While the attendance of sit-down diners was sparse, Boelig was happy to be able to get plenty of food over to the police department in to-go containers, packed by volunteers. There was also a drive-thru setup, where a first responder who was on the go could place an order, drive their car around the caboose onsite, and pick up a bag with a breakfast sandwich and hashbrown.

Boelig said Isaiah Café 61 will be holding the breakfast again next year, and they have learned from this first event to let agencies know further in advance.

“We will see if we can’t try to find a way to coordinate better with department heads, but otherwise, I consider it highly successful,” Boelig said.

Leftover food was put to good use, as much fed people experiencing homelessness, who Boelig said they refer to as their “friends” at Isaiah. When doors opened for the regular daily breakfast, he said the leftovers were served along with the regular breakfast fare.

“We make the best value out of anything we have in the form of leftovers,” said Boelig, who's also responsible for daily breakfast service. “Some would say that the sausage and home fries are better the second time around.”

Dawn Longval, founder and executive director, expressed her gratitude for all the first responders who help Isaiah 61 Café with their mission.

“We often have to reach out to first responders for health issues, and multiple other reasons, and we are so thankful for how fast they arrive, with great attitudes and kindness,” Longval said. “They really care, and it always shows. They do so much to take care of our friends.”

Longval said Isaiah 61 Café started when she and several other community members would gather at Rotary Park, where unhoused people were gathered. They would go every Wednesday for about a year-and-a-half to play guitar, chat, and get to know their new friends.

“We got to know them, and they trusted us, and trust is a big thing,” Longval said. “It is like a big family.”

The first side of the building was purchased in 2018, and several years later Isaiah 61 Café expanded to the larger part which was formerly Pitman’s Freight Room. Nearly 80 people per day come by for breakfast and lunch, which is served from Monday through Friday, and others will take advantage of the comforting environment to relax on a couch or even take a nap.

“It’s got the ambiance of a West Coast coffee shop,” Goelig said. “It’s not unusual to find someone catching some Z’s over near the fireplace.”

Isaiah 61 Café also offers health services including general clinic and more personal consulting, a hairdresser, laundry, a locker for the friends who regularly stop in, a spot to pick out items of clothing that have been donated, church services and youth bible classes. The café also offers parole services on Wednesdays, which is beneficial, because officers will come right to the café, saving people from missing an appointment or making a long walk.

Isaiah has a strict policy of no drugs or alcohol, but also offers programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. Goelig said this is important, as many who come in struggle with addiction to alcohol or substances.

“If I can get one person in the door, and have them go one day without a drink, that is good for me,” Goelig said. “We want our friends to feel like they have a value of self-worth. They are humans and we treat them as such.”

Goelig is a resident of South Down Shores, and has recruited many of his neighbors to help out at the café. One is Kim Carr, who was serving at the First Responders Appreciation Breakfast, and has been helping those in need at the café since last Thanksgiving.

Jan Triglione, another South Down Shores resident, is from Reading, Massachusetts, and has been vacationing in the Lakes Region since she was young. She has been involved in working with homeless charities over the years, and feels it's important for her to do her part.

“I want to be part of the fabric of this community, and support it,” she said. “I really believe we have a duty to give back. This is the perfect organization to do so.”

Tracie Stone was cooking eggs for breakfast sandwiches on Thursday morning, but she said she is usually there on Mondays.

“I like to be able to send people away happy and full,” Stone said.

This winter will be the fifth season for an overnight shelter at Isaiah, which includes 31 beds used from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and unlike the rest of the café, this is open seven days a week from December to March. This is first come, first served, and she said last year they sheltered 95 different people throughout the winter.

“This way, we can not only take care of their needs during the day with things like showers, laundry, supplies and food, but in the winter when the weather is extreme, we are able to keep them safe for the four coldest months of the year,” Longval said.

Isaiah 61 Café is located at 100 New Salem St. For more information, visit isaiah61cafe.org.