Café Pa’lante

Cafe's serve as spaces for connection and community building, however in Lancaster City cafe's are disproportionately concentrated in the Downtown Business District and the Northwest of the city. There are currently no cafe’s that forefront the culture that contributes some of the highest quantity and quality beans to the industry. The Latinx community in Southeast Lancaster City deserves a space that serves our coffee, our way.

Cafe Pa’lante’s goal is to serve as both a community hub for connection, preservation, and education around our diaspora while also highlighting the coffee and food that binds us together. At Cafe Pa'lante, traditional Carribean and Latin American methods of brewing are highlighted alongside Latinx food and curated programming that highlight Latinidad and history. Coffee that reminds us of home becomes a vehicle for education, empowerment, and sharing our culture.

My mission as an artist, organizer, and educator here in Lancaster City is to create what I needed as a kid so another generation doesn’t feel like anywhere else is better than here. Part of this, is building a space where Latinx folks are able to be seen, celebrate themselves and let their roots grow a bit deeper. My graduate research (and subsequent scholarship) examines Creative Placekeeping of the Latinx community here in Lancaster City. I know intimately through my volunteerism, leadership positions, and work in the community that the lack of a physical space has forced the diaspora to feel like they don’t fully belong here. If I can do anything at all to help my community feel a sense of belonging and empowerment, I am fulfilled.