Help Havenly Treats Thrive

Havenly Treats is a mezze bar with a mission: building economic and political power with refugee women. Our non-profit food business in New Haven, CT serves as a learning space, source of income and advocacy network for refugee women struggling with social and economic marginalization. At Havenly, we strive to break this cycle of marginalization, providing an income and an education during our 6-month paid fellowships that combine work experience at our restaurant with English, digital and financial literacy, advocacy, food safety classes, and more. At the end of the program, we continue supporting our alumni as they secure jobs, advocate for themselves and their communities, and advance their education.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, our founder, Nieda, saw an opportunity to expand our mission to reach beyond our kitchen and into New Haven as a whole. After resettling in New Haven from Iraq five years ago, she at first struggled to feel connected to the New Haven community, but creating Havenly Treats and supporting other women gave her not only a business but a family that continues to grow as we go forward. In collaboration with organizations across New Haven, we have created a space of community, cultural exchange and support where our trainees provide food relief to more than 200 immigrant families weekly. This fall we are continuing this program, and are launching a third iteration of our fellowship in our brand-new storefront.

$3,000 will allow us to cover teaching expenses and provide much needed support for childcare and laptop purchases, ensuring that each trainee in our program gets access to quality education, independently of the digital, logistical or family barriers she faces. 

Helping us raise $3,000 for this challenge would not only support us now – it would help our community grow into the future.

If we are awarded a grant and prizes, we will be able to grow our training center and restaurant to support 30 women and 150 family members per year just in New Haven. With our expanded training program and continued food relief, we hope that Havenly Treats will become a home not just for our fellows, but for New Haven and the people in our city who are most in need. A grant would also allow us to start expanding our model to other cities, serving more and more communities with our model.

Please join the Havenly Treats family and support us as we keep working towards a future where we help more and more communities thrive.