New Social Enterprise Cafe at Melbourne’s Mercy Hub

June 25, 2025

A couple of months ago, Crafted Culture, a new café located at Melbourne’s Mercy Hub, opened its doors. It is an initiative of SisterWorks, a not-for-profit social enterprise that began in 2013. It not only provides great food and coffee, it empowers the women who work there.

Michelle Paterson, Business Manager for Crafted Culture Cafe and Catering at SisterWorks, said the café is staffed by women from migrant, refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds many of whom have graduated from free training courses offered by SisterWorks at three other locations across Melbourne.

“Our café staff at the moment is made up of women from Chile, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Iran,” said Michelle.

“They are paid for their work with us which provides them with an income as well as a supportive environment where they can learn and grow. Starting out working in a customer facing role can be a scary one for most people, let alone someone whose first language is not English and someone who may not have lived in Australia for all that long. I love watching their confidence build and seeing them evolve and thrive. It is often the little things like talking to customers and the opportunity to practice their English that is so valuable to them.”

The women have commented that Michelle is one of their best teachers due to her use of Australian slang!

“It is often words that people who have lived in Australia all their lives don’t think about. Someone might say ‘thank you’ and then you respond with ‘no worries’. I recently had to explain to some of the women what ‘no worries’ means!”

Crafted Culture has been operating in Richmond for the past two years where, in addition to a café, SisterWorks has a craft shop. In the next couple of months, the shop will be moving to form part of the new café at the Mercy Hub.

“All of the items for sale in the shop are made locally by women from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. The range includes cards, jewellery, candles, hand towels, dolls and other knick-nacks. Just like the women who are working in the café, the craft is made by women who have completed some of our free training courses.”

In addition to the café, Michelle and the women hope to grow their catering business, making full use of the new café’s larger kitchen. She says an expansion of the catering business would mean that they are able to employ more women.

The team at Crafted Culture are looking forward to building an even strong relationship with the sisters and staff at the Mercy Hub and the local Carlton North community.

“I would like to build the partnership and work even more closely together. It is an incredible opportunity we have been given to come here. We have already had such a positive reception from the Mercy Hub and from the local community.”

Sister Margaret Moore, Coordinator of the Mercy Hub said Crafted Culture well and truly complements the work of the Mercy Hub.

“Since we began, the Sisters of Mercy has been about welcoming and empowering people from diverse background which is exactly what Crafted Culture does.

“It provides women with a start in an environment that holds and support them. Catherine McAuley would very much feel at home at Crafted Culture, for it is so in line with what she set out to do in Dublin almost 200 years ago.”

Crafted Culture is open from Tuesday to Friday from 8am-2pm at 611 Nicholson St, Carlton North.

For more information visit – https://crafted-culture.square.site/

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