What brings me hope
National Month of Hope kick-off
By Rosalind Tompkins
Special to the Outlook
As Mothers In Crisis’ Christ Vision Tribe members prepared for the April National Month of Hope kick-off, we discussed places that we could host the event in Tallahassee.
We wanted it to be within the communities where Mothers In Crisis spent decades providing outreach and intervention services. Those communities include Southside, Southeast, and Frenchtown neighborhoods. We thought about our friends and partners that we collaborated with over the years such as Florida A&M University and others.
One name that resonated with all of us was Ms. Olean McCaskill owner and operator of Olean’s Café for nearly 30 years. We remembered how she fed many of the families that we referred to her and did not charge them anything. We also discussed the good soul food that we have devoured at Olean’s over the years.
As my mouth began to water thinking of the delicious cuisine, I asked Nettie Walker Palmore if she had visited the restaurant recently. She stated that she had, and Ms. Olean was still there with her good food, big smile, and gospel music feeding the body and the soul.
Olean’s Café is located directly across the street from Florida A&M University at 1605 South Adams Street, and Ms. Olean has fed presidents, vice-presidents, as well as the homeless and everyone in between. She loves people and her faith in God keeps her full of joy and passion.
I had not been to Olean’s in a while because of the change in my dietary habits over the years but I was delighted to see Ms. Olean when we visited her to ask if we could kick off April National Month of Hope at her fine establishment. We reminisced for a while and with her trademark smile, she said yes of course.
We would like to invite everyone to stop by Olean’s Café on April 2 at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and get HOPED as we kick off April National Month of Hope. We will have a live remote with 96.1’s Victor Duncan, give out Champion of Hope Awards to SRM Concrete and others, door prizes, and hope promotional items to give away. You don’t want to miss it. For more information, please visit www.makeahopeconnection.com. Or call Mothers In Crisis at (850) 222-7705.
Rosalind Tompkins, Ph.D., is author of “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope,” and other inspirational books. Tompkins is also founder of Turning Point International Church, the Chapel of Mothers In Crisis. She’s also founder of Turning Point International Alliance with ministries and churches in Pakistan, Nepal, Eswatini, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, and St. Vincent in the West Indies.
