Elevate Northland hopes to open halal-friendly kitchen for neighborhood entrepreneurs

As it seeks to make more immigrant families in northeast Columbus feel at home, the nonprofit community development organization Elevate Northland is focusing on one room in particular: the kitchen.

With help from recently awarded grant money, Elevate Northland hopes to open a halal-friendly kitchen at its new headquarters next year to benefit the diverse neighborhood's residents and entrepreneurs. Halal foods are deemed permissible under Islamic religious rules.

Elevate Northland was one of five finalists last month in the fourth annual Philanthropitch Columbus competition at the Riffe Center this past month and received $37,629 to help with the project.

"This is something that's needed," Elevate Northland Executive Director Judith Cockrell said. "And I believe that the need in the area is being noticed. I feel, personally, I need to be responsible for taking care of my community, my neighborhood."

Much remains to be done before the kitchen can be created, however. The project's total cost is expected to be $400,000, mostly due to an increase in the price of materials, Cockrell said. The commercial kitchen will be about 1,575 square feet, with Cameron Mitchell Restaurants overseeing the development of the cooking area.

To raise the additional money, Elevate Northland is working with a fundraising consultant group and plans to host fundraising events throughout the year.

The kitchen will be part of the organization's new location at 4848 Evanswood Drive —called the Northland Community Center — which also is set to open next year.

Northland: Hotel rezoning prompts discussion on affordable housing, homeless population

Katie Hall, executive director of Philanthropitch, said Elevate Northland's presentation stood out to her because their team is creating an "ecosystem of support" for the Northland area by addressing several community needs.

"The halal kitchen is one part of that, but there's also other rental potential within there, and so their business model really stood out to us...," she said.

A need in the community

The people who make up Northland are becoming more diverse, as large populations of Somali and Bhutanese Nepali immigrants move into the neighborhood.

According to the 2020 census, the number of minority residents grew by 45% in the last 10 years in the 18 census tracts roughly bounded by Interstate 270 on the north and east, Morse Road on the south, and the Worthington city limits on the west. Currently, approximately 62,000 out of 97,000 people in the area belong to minority groups.

In addition, more than 99% of the Somali population is Muslim, a 2020 report from the U.S. Department of State indicated.

But halal food can be hard to find in Columbus, said Laura Berger Abbas, chief operating officer of the nonprofit Our Helpers, which provides resources for immigrant and refugee families. About 80% of the people the organization serves are Somali.

"There are only so many butchers in town that sell halal meat," she said.

Cockrell said she had a conversation about the limited options for halal food with Abbas at a meeting hosted by the community organization Northland Alliance. That's when she decided to make it her focus for Philanthropitch, which supports entrepreneurial nonprofits in four cities: Columbus, Austin, San Antonio and Philadelphia.

Cockrell said the difference between a halal kitchen and a standard kitchen is that the preparation of the food is specific and cannot be mixed with non-halal foods, such as pork, pork products or alcohol. In addition, foods must be halal certified, which can identified with a halal symbol on the packaging, according to the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America.

More: Polaris welcomes Jamaican restaurant, candy shop and shoe retailer as new tenants

Halal and non-halal food must be kept separate and different kitchen supplies are to be used when handling animal meat or alcohol. Cockrell said the kitchen will not allow non-halal food for when people in the community wish to cook.

A way for entrepreneurs to grow

Cockrell said she hopes the kitchen can be a launching pad for entrepreneurs.

The Elevate Northland leader said she wants the kitchen to be open for restaurant and catering businesses and those who want to start a food business. She also wants to work with charter schools in the neighborhood so that students can have access to halal food.

"I'm glad that there's an opportunity for me to help other people, help people to feel welcomed and to feel included," Cockrell said.

Abbas agrees that a halal kitchen will benefit Northland. She said several people within the Somali community have asked her about funding ideas for initiatives such as an after-school cultural food program and an entrepreneurial food program for women.

More: New census data show Asian, other minority residents driving Northland’s population growth

"There's really no large space to rent that is a halal kitchen," Abbas said. "I have people who are doing small catering out of their homes and they have the aspirations to become a larger business, but don't have the way to rent a halal kitchen anywhere locally.

"This is a huge opportunity for immigrant, refugee entrepreneurs to open larger catering businesses," she said.

This story is part of the Dispatch's Mobile Newsroom initiative. Read more of our reporters' work at dispatch.com/mobilenewsroom, where you also can sign up for The Mobile Newsroom newsletter.

mwalker@dispatch.com

@micah_walker701

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Elevate Northland needs funds to open proposed halal-friendly kitchen