Breaktime Café prepares, delivers meals amid pandemic
Connor Schoen and Tony Shu were just weeks away from opening Breaktime Cafe, their job-training initiative for youth experiencing homelessness, when the pandemic hit. They knew they had to do something fast or risk having their whole idea fall apart. “In the beginning, when it became evident that the cafe was not going to be open in May, we were grappling with unknowns,” Shu said. “It took us a while and a lot of reflection to realize that sometimes you have to be able to let go. Letting go temporarily allows your eyes to open to see what other needs are out there.” So Schoen ’21 and Shu ’21, who met as first-years while volunteering at Harvard Square’s youth homeless shelter, Y2Y, came up with a creative solution. Instead of learning about the food business through a cafe, program participants could run a service that produced and delivered meals to organizations and...