Portland café celebrates 1 year of helping immigrants

Jubilee Hall is inside Blackburn Center

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A year ago, a café with the goal of giving hope to immigrants was getting on its feet.

Now, Jubilee Hall café on East Burnside Street inside Central City Concern’s Blackburn Center is continuing to provide a space for immigrant refugees to transition to their first job in a new country.

The café says they’ve taken on two so far, helping them learn English and to develop transferable skills.

“We’re really happy to be in this neighborhood,” said co-founder Jesse Prichard. “We’re really happy how the neighborhood has greeted us and received us and we’re hoping to continue being a gathering spot for the neighborhood.”

Prichard even weighed in on future hopes for the café.

“We would like to see the training expand,” he added. “We have a waitlist of people who would like to be in here.”

The organization plans to launch their first training cohort this spring.

They are currently open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.